The war between light and darkness
by fanoren
Summary: A mysterious group has launched an attack on the worlds of light. The heartless are now under their control, and so are creatures unlike anything Sora or the other keyblade masters have seen in their darkest nightmares. Total war rages across the stars, nobody is truly safe anymore. This is the real thing, everything they had done until now was just practice. This is war.
1. The Renegades, and the seven generals

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than my OCs.

I'd like to thank my betas, Darklightningdevil, and Roxsah. I ended driving them off or something a while ago, but they worked hard on the first few chapters of this story and I thank you for all your hard work.

There will be plenty of OCs for a while. In fact, the Destiny Islands parts seem to be focusing more on my OCs than on KH characters. I'd like to apologise for that. The next few worlds after the first will be completely OC free.

* * *

Sora opened the scroll, wondering why the king would send them a letter. Riku and Kairi read over his shoulder.

"Dear Sora, Riku, and Kairi," Sora began. "I've discovered that the Heartless are once again attacking worlds. I've been sending teams to evacuate the worlds that have come under attack, and they've been reporting disturbing accounts about the Heartless' new forms and tactics. They seem to be much more aggressive and violent, and a lot smarter too."

"Lovely," Riku commented with grim sarcasm. Sora ignored him and continued.

"My men are being stretched thin, and are taking serious casualties. You three have already done more than your fair share for the worlds, Sora in particular. So I hoped to hold the tide off for as long as I could, hoping that I wouldn't have to call upon you again, but the Heartless are becoming more powerful and dangerous than I'd expected. Some of the refugees are experts at fighting this new kind of war the heartless are adopting, and have volunteered to train you. They'll be arriving at the Destiny Islands in a few days. I'll hold the Heartless off as best I can. when your training is over, I'm afraid I'm going to have to askfor your help once again." Sora closed the scroll. All three of them were silent.

"Just once, I'd like to get a letter from the king saying: Hi! How've you been?" Sora said.

The trio broke out in laughter.

"But the Heartless on the move again so soon… That's a little worrisome," Kairi frowned.

"C'mon Kairi!" Sora said in his usual cheery way. "We'll just beat them like we did the last two times!" It was aboast. They all of knew it.

"I wonder what the training he mentioned is for?" Riku asked "We've faced the Heartless before, and still won… why would we need training?"

* * *

Meanwhile, on a ship inbound for the Destiny Islands, the two man crew of the _Valkyria_, a Gummi ship in the service of King Mikey, checked their course. "And… yep, we'll be at the islands in two days," Said the pilot.

"You ever met this Sora kid?" his co-pilot asked.

"Nope. But, my nephew in Radiant Garden was saved by him when the Organization attacked. Or so he claims; he's a braggart, and likes to tell stories."

The co-pilot chuckled. "Hang on, I'm gonna go tell our passengers the news."

He stood up from his seat and walked into the hallway leading to the passenger's quarters. There were ten rooms in total. Four were currently being used by the people who volunteered to train the keyblade wielders. He knocked on the door of the first room.

A tall man in his early twenties opened the door. From what could be seen, his entire body was covered in small scars, and a rifle was slung over his shoulder. Behind him, the copilot could see several wooden targets shredded by bullets. That explained the loud noises they'd heard during the trip.

"What's up? Caught me in the middle of training," the man said.

"We're about two days from the islands, Issac," the copilot replied.

Issac sighed. "Great, two more days of this hell… no offense. I'm just bored."

"You've sure had a bit of fun blasting those targets to bits."

"Those are static targets, they're no fun!" He closed the door. Supposedly, Issac was a member of his home's military, special forces. Give him any kind of weapon and he'll be able to kill you with it. Talking to the man was always… Interesting.

Moving on to the next room, he knocked on the door, and when nobody answered he opened it. Three knives struck the wall next to his head. the Cries and screams inside the room only unnerved him further. The two female passengers, Naoki and Christi, were training. They were the least experienced fighters in the group, and were constantly trying to improve their skills.

Naoki, the younger of the duo by about two years, was a pretty, young teen with a talent for swordsmanship. She took immense pride in her warrior ancestry, claiming to be descended of warriors from her home's history called samurai.

Her black hair was commonly around shoulder-length so it wouldn't get in the way during a fight. Since this was a more relatively peaceful time, she let it grow out a bit. Tying back in a ponytail, like it was currently, during training. Her eyes were a deep blue with a touch of green. The others often compared them to the color of the sea on a sunny day. She supposedly got those eyes from her father, who'd been her only family until his death three years ago.

Christi, on the other hand, was eighteen years old. She took lessons from Issac on how to fight. On more than one occasion their training sessions escalated into brawls. The two commonly laugh about their most recent one when Issac got drunk and started trying to smash her with a table while screaming nonsense. She fought with many kind of weapons, including knives, darts, and nearly anything that could be easily concealable.

Like Naoki, she was also more than a little attractive. She had light brown hair with a few blond strands here and there that came down to her shoulders. It was currently pulled back in a ponytail as well. Christi'd always liked her long hair and refused to get it cut shorter than it was now. She rarely didn't have a smile on her face.

The two hadn't noticed him yet, so the copilot stood by the door and watched them. He'd heard that the Heartless were changing tactics rapidly, and that these people were able to fight them better than most of the world's militaries. He was curious to see what they could do. He'd seen them fight before, but he knew they must have a few more tricks up their sleeves than the ones he'd seen.

They stood about four feet apart, Naoki brandishing a katana, and Christi a set of knives. Neither took their eyes off their opponent; waiting for the right moment to strike. They didn't have to wait long. Christi darted into Naoki's space, her knives at the ready. Naoki gave a battle cry and swung the sword at Christi's head. Christi dodged it, but couldn't get a blow in with her knives. Every time she struck, Naoki would dodge with the grace of a cat. Christi struck at Naoki's knees, and Naoki jumped to avoid it, kicking Christi in the face while she was airborne. Christi was stunned by the kick, giving Naoki an opening. With another cry, she struck at Christi's side. The blade stopped an inch away from actual impact.

"Looks like I win again!" Naoki said. Christi sighed and put her knives away. The copilot knocked on the open door again, catching their attention.

"Oh, hey, George!" They both called. The girls had made an attempt to get to know both pilots during the trip. So they knew his name, which was more than the boys knew about him. George couldn't help but feel more friendly around these two.

"I thought I'd let you know that we're going to be arriving at the destiny Islands in two days," he told them.

"Good, I think two days is long enough for me to even the score," Christi said with a smile. Naoki grinned back.

"In your dreams!" Her grin suddenly vanished. "Oh shit. Did you say 'Islands'?"

"Yeah." George responded nervously. Naoki rarely swore, but when she did, it meant trouble.

"Mike's got a severe case of hydrophobia. For his sake I hope that they don't expect us to train them on the beach."

George blinked in surprise. Mike was the leader of this group. And from what he'd seen, the man was cool-headed in almost any situation. George had been the pilot that got him off his dying world, so he'd seen the man in battle. The mere thought of the battle sent shivers of excitement down his spine. To think that such a man was terrified of water? Ridiculous!

"Well, he's next on my list of people to inform anyway. I'll let him know." He closed the door as he left. He walked past Naoki's room and knocked on Mike's door.

"It's open!" Mike called from inside. George opened the door. He saw the crimson-eyed sitting on his bed, messing around on his computer. Mike was the leader of the group, the Renegades as he called them. He was younger than Issac, and only a month had passed since his eighteenth birthday, but he was the most dangerous of all of them. He looked similar to Issac, but that was to be expected since the two were cousins. Whereas Issac was tall, Mike was about average height, and he wasn't as muscular. By his side, was a sheathed short sword he called a Kodachi.

"Hey, I came to tell you that we'll be arriving at the Destiny Islands in two days."

"Islands?" He asked, terror obvious in his voice. "As in… surrounded by water?"

"Uh, yeah." Mike started trembling.

"They say that the best way to conquer your fear is to face it head on…" He said to himself. "Easier said than done."

"I could request that the King sends you somewhere else," George offered.

"I told him I'd train these kids. I'm not about to chicken out because of a little water!" He snapped. More out of frustration at himself than any ill feelings toward George. "I never go back on my word. I'm not going to start now." A long moment of silence passed.

"What are you doing on the computer?" George asked.

"Strategy game. I think of it as a little warm up for my brain. War is as much intellectual as it is physical. A strong but dumb person will always find it difficult to defeat a smart but weak opponent. Or at least one that knows how to use his brain to his advantage."

"What makes you say that?"

"My many spars with Issac are all the proof I need," he said with a grin. "Not that Issac's dumb, he's one of the smartest people I know, he just doesn't use his brain as much as I do. I'll see you at dinner, it's Christi's turn to do the cooking this time… thank God."

George chuckled at that comment. Of all four of the Renegades, Christi was the only one that was able to cook a decent meal. He'd almost died when Issac tried to make eggs yesterday, and he didn't even bother to touch Mike or Naoki's cooking. The look of it alone almost killed him. He still had nightmares about the steak they'd tried to make the day they left for the islands.

"I'll see you then." He left the room, closing the door behind him. He made his way back to the glass dome that served as the cockpit of the ship, and sat in his seat next to the Pilot's.

"How'd things go?" The pilot, whose name was Martin, asked.

"Turns out Issac was shooting the targets in his room."

"Ah, that explains a few things…" Martin glanced over his instruments. A recent upgrade on the ship was a radar. As Martin glanced at the instruments again, he noticed that two large objects had just appeared on the radar, and were closing fast. "Hey," Martin nudged George, and pointed to the radar. "What do you think this is?"

"Judging by their speed… they're about five minutes from visual range."

"Let's hope they're friendly, I've never heard of a Heartless that fast."

It was a growing concern among Gummi Ship pilots that Heartless would take on new forms in between worlds, just like they had on the ground. Martin and George had been two of the many pilots that tried to evacuate civilians from some of the worlds attacked by the Heartless; they'd seen the damage the new forms could inflict.

Minutes slowly passed by. George went to alert the Renegades, and they came back with him to the cockpit. The six of them scanned the horizon in search of the strange things on the radar. After a few minutes, Naoki spotted what appeared to be black Gummi ships on an intercept course. It didn't take long for her to notice a certain marking on the ships that sent chills up everyone's spine.

"Heartless Ships! Everyone to battle stations!" They all scrambled to their seats. This was going to be a bumpy ride.

"Looks like we'll be able to test out our new weapons, eh Martin?" George asked.

The pilot grinned at his old friend.

"This is the kind of stuff I live for." Martin replied. A series of beeping noises then alerted the pilots. "Shit, we got a missile locked on to us!"

"Since when did the Heartless even have missiles?" Martin asked.

"Since now?" George suggested.

"Very funny." Martin turned back to his four passengers. "Hang on to your skulls people, this is gonna require some fancy flying!" The Gummi Ship did a U-turn toward the enemy.

Two laser missiles flew from the Heartless Gummi Ships, closing in on the _Valkyria_. At the last moment, Martin took a steep dive. The passengers watched as the two missiles flew overhead. Just one of those missiles would easily punch through their shields and destroy the ship. The_ Valkyria_ suddenly broke out of it's dive, and aimed it's bow at the enemy.

"I got a lock on one of them!" George called out.

"Fire!" Martin ordered. George pulled the trigger, releasing a missile of their own at the enemy. It struck one of the ships, which exploded into a ball of fire upon impact. The second Heartless Ship came within firing range of its rapid fire cannons. Instead of shooting lasers as would normally be the case, the cannons fired metal bullets. The shields of the Valkyria went down in less than a second under the heavy fire, and a few shots even punctured the glass dome. One of the bullets embedded itself into Martin's arm.

The enemy Gummi Ship flew overhead.

"He's coming around for another pass!" Issac called out.

"Dammit! If he hits our engines we'll be stranded!" George shouted. They tried to move, but the ship wasn't responding. Something was wrong. A rain of gunfire signaled the second pass of the enemy Vessel. Most of the screens on the ship's controls flashed red in alarm. "Engine systems, fuel tanks, even our fucking shield generator gummis took a lot of hits!" the telltale sound of an explosion in the fuel tanks proved him correct. A good chunk of the ship's port side exploded with it.

"Engines are at twenty percent… fuel is leaking or exploding, our shields won't be restored any time soon. Damage to the hull is severe, one more pass like that and we're dead."

"What about our weapons systems?"

"Completely offline. We're sitting ducks!" The two pilots looked on in horror as the

Heartless Gummi came around again. The warning beeps of a missile lock sounded. Mike stood up from his seat.

"I'll handle this bastard." He said calmly. With just a snap of his fingers, the enemy's fuel tanks exploded. The resulting fireball consumed the rest of the ship. The _Valkyria_'s alarms went silent. The enemy was destroyed. Everyone in the ship let out a sigh of relief. But the pilots didn't relax. They set about trying to assess the damage to their precious ship.

It wasn't long until a verdict was determined. The ship was little more than floating scrap at this point. They needed another ship to rescue them. But after attempting to contact another ship, the pilots quickly realized that the communications were busted too. After an exchange of colorful language, three insults to each other's mothers, and five dollars lost in a bet, the two pilots gave up trying to contact anyone. Now, all six of them were stuck in a floating wreck.

To make matters worse, Martin's arm needed to be amputated. The wound itself wasn't bad, but they all knew what happened to those shot by the heartless. Amputation didn't even stop it in the majority of cases, but a ten percent chance was better than no chance at all. Things were not looking good for them.

"So much for 'two days until we arrive,'" Issac said sarcastically.

* * *

Pete rushed down the hall of the Castle That Never Was. In the main room, six figures were waiting for him. Many of them were humanoid shape, but there were a few that stood out from the rest.

"Ahh, Pete!" One of them called out. He looked to be human, but the only thing Pete could see of him under his heavy hood were his glowing golden eyes. "I trust that everything went well?" The other five drew their weapons simultaneously. "Because you know what will happen if you failed me." Pete knelt before the group.

"Y-yes my lord," he said nervously. "Your home world has fallen."

"And all the inhabitants? Are they now apart of my legions?" Pete flinched.

"Er... no. King Mickey arrived and evacuated some of the people before my heartless could get them." The man's golden eyes flashed with anger.

"That rat is quickly becoming a thorn in my side," he said. He turned to another figure. This one was hunched over, and his face was disfigured. His eyes bulged out of his head like a frog's. In his hand was a book, cloaked in an aura of darkness. "Caster," the man said to him. "Continue your efforts of finding a way to get through that annoying cornerstone of light. The sooner we deal with that rodent, the fewer problems we'll face in the long run."

Caster bowed. "It will be my pleasure, lord. Just remember your end of the bargain," he said. His voice reminded Pete of a snake.

"I'll get you your damn woman once our objective is complete," he snarled.

Caster looked as if he was going to shriek at the man in his rage at that comment. But once he noticed the man's golden eyes glaring at him, he simply bowed and left the room.

"Now, what to do with you?" The man said, looking at Pete. A shiver shot down Pete's spine. He remembered that look. It was the look he had given Maleficent just before he butchered her.

"He's a failure," another one of the figures said. He was tall, nearly six foot, and slender. His face was as pale as a ghost, and his long hair was the color of blood. He wore intimidating armor, covered in spikes and runes. Skulls were impaled on more than a few of said spikes. "My men are thirsting for fresh slaves. This one could do nicely until our next attack."

"Did I ask for your opinion, Archon?" The man asked. The Archon snorted.

"You know why I follow you. Don't think that your powers frighten me," he said. "I've had nearly four thousand years of experience in war. Something no human can match. Even one like you."

"Very well," the man replied. "We've been needing someone to take out the keyblade wielders. I was planning on having Pete bring me their heads as a way to compensate for his failure. But if your warriors desire battle that badly, you may have the honor." The Archon smiled, his razor-sharp fangs gleaming in the light of what remained of the organization's kingdom hearts.

"Very well. It will take some time to assemble the warriors to partake in the raid."

"So long as you bring me their heads, I don't care how long it takes you."

The Archon bowed before a portal ripped open behind him. A city bathed in the darkness of eternal night was on the other side. Screams of agony were plainly audible. The Archon shuddered with delight at the sound.

"Oh, how I miss that beautiful sound when I leave home," he said before stepping into the portal. It closed behind him.

The man's attention fully focused on Pete.

"I've decided," he declared. "I never specified that I wanted the people of my world to be taken when I sent you. I just told you that I wanted you to claim the world. You did well. But you also failed me." Pete looked up at the man nervously. "So I will both reward and discipline you." A jet-black keyblade formed in the man's hand. "This blade is cursed. I will reveal its curse when the time comes, but until then, it's yours." He held the blade out to Pete, who nervously grabbed it by the hilt. He almost expected his hand to burst into flames upon touching it, but it didn't. "Anyone you slay with that will become a heartless. You are to lead the charge in every battle you are in from this point on. If you don't, I will kill you." Pete gulped.

"Is that all, lord?" He asked. A dark keyblade appeared in the man's hand.

"Not nearly. You are tasked to hunt down all those who escaped you. If we accomplish our mission, and one person from that world still draws breath, I will hand you over to Archon; I hear that's a worse fate than death. But enough of that. It's time I tell you of your reward for your service."

a midnight-black keyblade flashed into existance, floating before him. He held the keyblade out in a crisp salute. A number of bolts of pure darkness shot out from the tip, and into Pete. An aura of dark energy surrounded Pete, growing with each bolt that entered his body.

"Rise, my seventh general of darkness."

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know that the area between the worlds is like outer space, but if a giant whale can live freely out there, I'm pretty sure that those few holes in the window won't be too hazardous.

Since Mickey is a king, I figured he must have an army. Goofy's not captain of the knights for nothing after all. (I hope) In this story, his army mostly comprises of people that lost their home worlds and wanted to continue fighting. He does have knights, whose armor is able to protect them a bit from enemy fire and are skilled warriors in their own right. But those knights are few in number and relatively inexperienced since they were never really needed to fight a war.

I'm open to suggetions on where this could go. I have a general idea of the storyline and most of the really important characters figured out, but if you want to make a suggestion, feel free!


	2. crash landing

Disclaimer: I forgot to do this for my first chapter, but I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything other than my OCs.

King Mickey ducked as a heartless' bullet richoceted against the wall he was using for cover. He leaned out to get a better look at the enemy. These new forms of heartless were long range fighters, but effective ones. They had the same appearance as the typical soldier heartless, but with a weapon resembling the rifles that the inhabitants of some of the attacked worlds commonly used. While they lay down suppressive fire, hordes of shadow heartless practically scrambled over one another to get at the defenders.

He'd received reports that his soldiers on this world desperately needed help holding off the darkness. When he'd arrived, nearly half of his men had been slaughtered. This world was lost, nothing could change that. Only one city remained in the hands of the defenders, but casualties were high, and the heartless were becoming even more ferocious. Mickey had ordered that any surviving civilians were to be evacuated to Traverse Town, Disney Castle, or Radient Garden. The three designated refugee worlds. The world's soldiers would hold the heartless off as long as they could alongside the King's men until the evacuation was complete.

Two days in, less than a quarter of the civilians were left on the world, but the heartless, sensing their prey's escape attempt, had arrived full force. an entire fleet of over one hundred Gummi ships were assisting the evacuation, but they didn't have the time. The heartless were continuing to push the defenders back. a radius of one mile around the evacuation zone was the only part of the city that hadn't fallen yet.

"Hold your positions men!" The blue-clad commander of the world's military called out to his men. His name was Colonel Roy Mustang. He was a dashing young man in his late twenties, with short black hair and almost always had a fierce look in his eyes. "Central city will not fall while we still draw breath!" He snapped his gloved fingers in the direction of a large force of heartless. His specially made gloves giving off sparks. The mass of heartless disappeared in an explosion of flames.

This world's science called 'alchemy' was truly amazing. 'The Flame Alchemist' had once again proven how he'd earned his Title.

"Colonel!" Mickey called out, gesturing with his keyblade to the positions of a fortified group of the long-ranged heartless that had pinned down a number of soldiers. The colonel snapped his fingers again, and the enemy position was no more. The group of soldiers those heartless had been keeping pinned down began to fall back to the main defenses when asudden push from the Shadow mob encircled and overwhelmed them. The colonel grit his teeth before snapping his fingers at an oncoming horde of shadows. More than half were destroyed in the blast. Mickey took advantage of the smoke from the blast, running in, he cut down many of the the remaining shadows while the long-range soldiers couldn't see him, before retreating back to the safety of the defender lines.

After a full hour of this continued fighting, the defender's lines were forced back even farther. The evacuation zone was now only just out of range of the heartless' guns. Suddenly, and without warning, the heartless retreated. That was never a good sign. The king ordered the Gummi ships to take off right then and there. Leaving behind those civillians that weren't able to get on a ship in time. Just as the ships got off the ground, a group of fast moving, flying heartless appeared on the horizon. The defenders tried to put everything they possibly could between those flyers and themselves as they could. A few seconds later, those heartless were just overhead, and dropped what they all knew were bombs. Each one exploded. Sending needle-sharp pieces of shrapnel flying in all directions. Some of the Gummi ships that had just taken off were shredded apart by the shrapnel and exploded. Killing everyone inside. On the ground, the majority of the civilians were dead, and the rest were wounded. Only a handful of soldiers weren't injured by the shrapnel. The king and the Colonel were amongst those unharmed. They had only a few moments before the heartless resumed their attack. Mickey jumped out of cover and ran to Mustang's side.

"Gee, what are you going to do now Mustang?" Mickey asked. The Colonel silently gazed at the devastation his home had been dealt by the darkness.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, your majesty, but those that were killed by the heartless, merely lose their hearts and become heartless themselves?" The colonel asked without diverting his gaze.

"Yep. Those killed by the heartless become heartless, and a few become nobodies as well."

"So, If a keyblade wielder such as yourself kills a heartless, the heart goes free. Does that mean that the person that heart belongs to will come back?"

"Yes. That's the theory anyway." Colonel Mustang turned to face Mickey.

"I swear then," He began. "I'm at your command until all the Amestrians that died fighting the heartless are restored. My men and I will help you stand against this darkness!" Mickey nodded. It seemed to be the only thing he could do in respone to something like that.

"Your majesty!" A knight of Disney castle called. "All survivors have been gathered and are awaiting your orders!" King Mickey examined the survivors. They were covered in cuts and bruises, but none of them had taken single bullet. The knight's armor seemed to offer some protection against them. Mickey was appaled to discover that only five of the one hundred knights he had sent were still alive. One of them was unconscious, laying on a stretcher, blood pouring from a wound in his arm. Much to Mickey's alarm, he recognized the poor soldier.

"Max!" He called out. Jumping to the side of his captain's son.

"He took a bullet to the shoulder, majesty." One of the other knights explained. "The infection has spread to the point where even amputation won't be able to save him." 'The infection'? Is that what they were calling it now? Mickey wondered. The bullets fired by the heartless were made of a compressed darkness. Once inside a body, this darkness would spread. Once it reached the heart, it would be consumed and the wounded person would become a heartless. It was the reason that no one who was shot was allowed to be evacuated. There was little to no hope of saving them.

"We hoped that maybe the cornerstone of light might be able to help him." Another knight said. "Might drive the darkness out of his body."

"We tried that earlier in the war." Mickey regretfully informed them. "It didn't help at all." He held his keyblade over his head, a red flare shot out from the tip into the sky. "Our ride's going to be here soon. Get everyone ready to leave. Mustang's surviving troops will be joining us." One of the knights looked as though he was about to say something. "We have to leave Max behind. I'll tell Goofy about this personally." The knight looked back at Max. The kid had been popular amongst the rest of the knights, it was a huge hit on morale.

Mustang arrived, surrounded by some Amestrian soldiers that functioned as his command staff and personal bodyguards. Amazingly, none of them had taken a single shot since the King had arrived. Not even the strange almost-bald giant that sparkled and liked to take his shirt off.

"I've issued orders for my remaining soldiers to converge at this location." He said. "Unless they've been cut off from communications, the survivors will be here shortly." They didn't have to wait long before two Gummi ships, both proudly bearing the king's seal on their hulls arrived. They were his personal transports, they wouldn't leave without him. A small handful of Mustang's troops showed up too. Just in time for the heartless' final push. A massive tidal wave of shadows charged the survivors. Among the survivors was a single tank, outfitted with several anti-personel machine guns. The tank and it's five crewmen single handedly held off the darkness long enough for the rest of the survivors to board the ships. A wave of large body heartless that had followed the shadows charged at the tank as the two Gummi's took off. While a few of them were gunned down in the charge, the large bodies managed to flip the tank over. Tearing into the weaker armor on the belly of the tank, the large bodies managed to get at the crew, sealing their fate.

Mustang and Mickey observed the five men as they met their ends after bravely holding the enemy off so others could escape. Mickey turned away once the heartless began to tear the tank apart, but Mustang's gaze remained focused on his men.

"I've seen many horrible things in my career." He said. "But this is just on a whole new level." He saw for the first time the true extent of the destruction his home had suffered. Where there had once been a large, prosperous city, now stood a lifeless pile of rubble. Even now, he could already see some of the wounded lose their hearts as the infection spread. The heartless they became preying on the hearts of those who hadn't yet succumbed to the darkness. "This is just the beginning, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid so." Mickey replied. In the distance, he could just imagine heartless pouncing on the wounded Max. Goofy was going to be heartbroken. It was the first real personal blow that had been delt to him since this war started last month. Just a month? Had it really been just a month? So many worlds had fallen since the heartless attacked. The king had been on the frontlines of all those worlds that had fallen. Either at the start or the end of the battle. Most of them had fallen in a matter of hours. Even this world, Amestris, a highly militaristic world, hadn't been able to hold off the darkness for more than a single week. The darkness was becoming more powerful, how much longer until they became strong enough to overcome the cornerstone of light and invade his own world? With that thought, Mickey took one long last look at Amestris before the darkness consumed it.

* * *

There was a loud thump, and Sora jumped in his seat. Suddenly alert.

"Sora, it doesn't matter that summer vacation just ended, you still have to focus on your studies and not fall asleep in the middle of my class!" His teacher lectured. A large stick in his hand. He commonly smacked it on the desks of students that were acting up. The resulting rush of adrenaline certainly cleaned up their act pretty quickly. Sora realized that that was exactly what had happened when he'd fallen asleep. Most of the rest of class was laughing at his misfortune. Next to him, he could hear Kairi giggle next to him.

"Sorry Mr. Johnson." Sora said. "I had some trouble getting to sleep last night." Actually, it was the fact that he hated math class.

"Make sure you get enough sleep at night." Mr. Johnson told him. "That goes for all of you!" He yelled to the rest of the class before going back to explaining how to do the next problem on the board. Mr. Johnson was strict, but he also had a fun side to him. Most of the students in the class liked him, Sora and Kairi included.

"Have a good nap?" Kairi jokingly asked. Sora groaned in response.

"What do you think might be holding up those guys who were going to train us? It's been more than a week since we got the letter, and it said that they were going to be here in a few days." Sora wondered aloud.

"They'll get here when they get here, right now you should focus more on school." Kairi lectured.

"How can I focus on school when the heartless are rampaging across the worlds? I'm the keyblade master, it's my duty to battle the heartless. But here I am, trying to solve math problems while the heartless are attacking!" Kairi sighed. He'd been like this ever since they'd gotten the king's letter. He was worried about his friends on other worlds, and that he wasn't doing his duty. It was starting to get tiring.

"We've been doing some training on our own after school and during the weekends. Hopefully, we might not even have to go through the training and get right to the action." Sora nodded. The waiting was the worst part. Knowing that out in the world, serious shit was hitting the fan, but you couldn't do anything but wait. That was worse than any wound he'd gotten fighting the heartless. Another loud thump next to their desks startled them.

"Cut the chit-chat and get to work!" Mr. Johnson shouted at them. The two shut up and went back to their studies. After school, Sora, Riku, and Kairi were walking on the beach talking about their day and such.

"…and then Mr. Johnson slammed his stick into the desk." Sora concluded his story.

"I can see why a lot of people think he has a military background." Riku commented. "I never had him as a teacher, but I knew he was intimidating even before Sora got the keyblade." Looking around, the trio made certain no one was around to see what they were doing.

"Ready?" Sora asked.

"I'll kick your ass this time!" Riku claimed.

"I'll give it my all!" Kairi piped in. The three summoned their keyblades. They trained together until the sun went down. By then, all of them were tired and breathing heavily. They all were still smiling. The training was a fun way for them to vent the stress of the day-to-day things. They decided to go hang out at Sora's house for a while before they left for their own homes. When the entered the house, they were surprised to see Sora's mom talking to a strange woman they'd never seen before.

"Oh, Sora!" His mom called when she saw her son enter with his friends. "This young woman here says she was looking for you." She was older than them, probably around twenty. Her hair was dyed a deep blue, and the look on her face was just plain unnerving.

"So, you're this 'Sora' I've been hearing so much about. The king has been telling me a lot about you and you're friends." She said. The trio's eyes widened in terror. They'd kept their whole journey a secret from their parents.

"Hannah, here told me all about you're adventures." Sora's mother said. Despite her cheerful expression, everyone in the room could practically see an aura of anger around her. "I was really surprised to hear them, seeing as you never told me about them yourself."

"Just remember that we need him alive." Hannah said to Sora's mother in joking manner. "Beyond that, I don't see a problem with whatever you do to him." Sora suddenly wanted to run out the door and never come back. "The king sent a few of my friends to train you about ten days ago. We lost all communication with them last week. I came here to see if they made it here alive. You wouldn't have happened to know where they are?" Hannah asked. "My boyfriend was among them, and I've been getting worried."

"We haven't seen them." Sora said.

"Anything we can do to help you look for them?" Kairi offered. Hannah sighed.

"Thanks for the offer, but if they haven't arrived yet, I'm pretty sure that they were lost on the trip."

"'Lost,' as in they need directions?" Sora asked nervously, already knowing what her answer would be.

"'Lost' as in they're dead." Hannah said sternly. "The king was right, you really are naive. Almost obnoxiously so."

"Hey!" Kairi objected. Hannah ignored her. Instead, her eyes seemed to glaze over. They all realized that she must be so worried about her friends that she snapped at Sora without meaning to.

"Sorry about that." She said. She looked at Sora's mother. "Do you have a spare room I could stay in? I need to report this to the king, so I'll be leaving in the morning." Sora's mother nodded.

"The guest room's right upstairs, follow me." She guided Hannah up the stairs. "Riku, Kairi, you two are staying here as well." The woman said when the two teens turned to leave. "I want to hear more about your adventures." The kids groaned, this was going to be a long night.

* * *

Mike sat on his bed. They'd been drifting for almost a full week now, and supplies were running low. Luckily, Martin's amputation had prevented the infection from spreading. He didn't have to worry about becoming a heartless at any point in the foreseeable fututre. Unfortunately, and somewhat ironicly, the stump where they had cut off his arm had become infected. With Bacteria, not the darkness from the bullet. He had a high fever and needed to be constantly supervised by Naoki.

"Hey, why the long face?" A fammiliar voice asked. Mike was startled to see an old friend of his suddenly appear in his room. "Got yourself in some life-or-death situation… again?"

"Good to see you again Shinta." Mike said sarcastically. "I was hoping to discuss the terms of this little… favor. You want us to help win the war, right?" Shinta nodded.

"Did you even need to ask?" Shinta commented. "You lose the war, and your home world is gone. With that world gone, our old 'high and mighty' friend Omega can't do shit against our enemy."

"Alpha." Mike spat the same like it was a disgusting poison. "So, once we win the war against the darkness all we have to do is kill him. Once we do that, I get my reward, right?"

"Yes. You get your reward after Alpha dies."

"That part's all well and good, but we ran into a bit of a problem. Our ship has been reduced to a hunk of scrap floating in space."

"What are you talking about?" Shinta said. A knowing smirk plastered on his face. The ship trembled violently. Alarms blasted. Through the speakers on the ship, Mike could hear George's voice.

"What the fuck? Hold on everyone! We're apparently going to have a rough crash-landing!" Mike looked back at Shinta, the violent tremors knocking him to the floor. Shinta seemed completely unaffected by the ship. It was then that Mike realized what Shinta had done.

"You asshole!" He shouted. Shinta just grinned.

"Don't tell anyone." He said before vanishing. Mike grabbed at anything solid he could het his hands on and braced himself for impact.

"If I live through this, I swear I'm going to kill that son-of-a-bitch!" He vowed as he tumbled around in his room.

* * *

Hannah stared out at the window of the guest's room, at the moon. Kairi entered the room and stood next to her, also staring at the moon.

"The guys are crashing in Sora's room. So I'm going to be in here with you. You okay with that?" She asked. Hannah didn't answer. She was too lost in her own thoughts. Kairi nudged her gently, bringing her back to reality.

"Oh, Kairi, right? What is it?" She asked.

"I was wondering if you'd mind me sleeping in here."

"Oh, not at all. Take the bed too. I'm not sure if I'll be getting any sleep tonight anyway."

"You're really worried about them, aren't you?" Hannah smiled sadly.

"Yeah. You ever wondered to yourself: what if they're not coming back this time?"

"No. I know Sora will always come back to me, and Riku will be with him." Hannah snorted at her response.

"You really are naïve. Almost childishly naïve. But… I really wish that the world was like that. Where good conquers evil every time and people get to live happily ever after." The two silently looked out at the starry night sky for a few minutes. "You really like that Sora kid, don't you, Kairi?" Hannah asked. Kairi blushed. Before she could open her mouth to respond, Hannah chuckled. "The look on your face is practically a confession. Dale owes me ten bucks now." Kairi blushed even harder.

"What about you?" She asked. Desperate to change the subject. "You said that your boyfriend was missing right? What's he like?"

"A total nutjob." Hannah said imedeately. "But he's loyal, and a good person too. We met on the battlefield, actually. On opposing sides. There were some... complications about two years ago, and we met on friendly terms for the first time. We eventually became friends, and started dating not too long after that. We worked in a career where being killed was more than likely going to happen sooner or later, and were constantly being sent places apart from each other. We eventually became accustomed to the idea that one day, one of us wasn't going to come home." Tears began falling down her cheek. She was crying. "I just… I guess I never realized how much it would hurt…"

"I-I'm sorry." Kairi said. What else do you say to a woman who just realized she'd lost the love of her life?

"What do you have to apologize for?" Hannah turned to face Kairi, with that same sad smile, tears still streamed down her cheeks. "He was a soldier, he knew the risks, he died fighting for what he believed in. I know it. Just let this be a lesson to you. Even those people that are most precious to you can still be taken from you at any time. So be sure to tell them what you need to, because you may never get the chance again." No sooner had the words left her mouth, than something similar to a meteor could be seen in the sky.

"Look! A shooting star!" Kairi said. Hannah looked up at the meteor. "Make a wish. It might come true." Hannah smiled. This girl really did want to lift her spirits. She didn't really think it would work, but what the hell! It was that moment that they realized that the thing falling from the sky wasn't really a meteor.

"Oh my God! Is that?" Hannah wanted nothing more than to jump out the window and try to get a better look. If she was wrong, then fate really was just a cruel bitch. The supposed meteor, now close enough to discern that it was actually a gummi ship, plummeted from the sky, and smashed into the ground somewhere in the town. Kairi smiled.

"Wish granted." She said.

* * *

Mike had no fucking clue as to how he'd survived the crash, but he did. He was certain that he'd bruised more than a few ribs, maybe broken a few, he was aching all over, and his head felt like a train had just run it over, but he was still alive.

"Owwwww." He hissed in discomfort. "I'm really gonna kill Shinta next time I see him." George's booming voice came over the ship's speakers one more time. That REALLY didn't help his headache.

"Uhhhhh," He moaned. "Last time I felt like this was the morning after my brother's wedding. The booze flowed in rivers that night." He laughed a bit. Most likely out of sheer relief that he'd survived. "Anyone else who survived, report to the main bridge. We've landed! Safe and… well, not entirely sound."

"That's an understatement." Mike reacted instantly to the sound of Shinta's voice. He spun around, seeing Shinta standing amidst the rubble that used to be his room. Mike shoved his hand in Shinta's direction. Blue bolts electricity shot out of his palm at the other man. Shinta didn't even move. The electricity came within a centimeter of hitting him before it suddenly launched itself back into Mike's palm. "You of all people should know not to tangle with an Alpha Prototype unless completely necessary. 'Alpha Prototype one', after all, three of the four Renegades are Alpha Prototypes."

"Just shut up!" Mike shouted. "Why the hell did you cause us to crash? You could have just as easily had us appear on the islands with just a flick of the wrist!"

"True, but I needed to find a convenient way to get the kid to focus entirely on training instead of being distracted by his schoolwork. Relax, no one was seriously injured, no one died, and you got to the islands instead of dying slowly in space, or whatever they call the area between worlds."

"You're still an ass." Shinta chuckled.

"Hurry up, or everyone will think you're dead."

"I wonder whose fault that would have been?" Shinta vanished without a word. Mike cursed him once more before groggily getting to his feet. A loud series of knocks thundered from his door. Mike let out a yelp of pain, his head was already pounding as it was! Luckily, the person outside the door heard him.

"Dammit Mike! Don't scare us like that!" The door opened, and Naoki came bursting in, followed by Issac and Christi. The three of them stood before their leader.

"How's Martin?" He asked Naoki once his head stopped beating like a drum.

"He's fine. Surprisingly, his infection's gone." Mike blinked in surprise at that before realizing that it must have been Shinta's work.

"Issac?" He asked. Issac tossed him a rifle.

"Yeah, yeah, we don't know if the enemy's here, so we may need weapons." He said. He handed guns to Naoki and Christi too. "George already has one."

"Great." Mike said. "Let's go say hello to the natives."

* * *

OC/ Non KH character profiles

Colonel Roy Mustang: Colonel in the Amestrian Millitary, also known as 'the flame alchemist' His gloves are made of a special material that sparks when rubbed together. He then uses his talent in the science of 'alchemy' to change the oxygen levels in his target area. The sparks, alongside the increased oxygen density, causes a massive explosion. But he's completely useless on humid or rainy days since his gloves won't spark. (Much to his annoyance, since he once picked a fight with a mass murderer, completely forgeting that it was raining. His bodyguard, Lt. Hawkeye, had to get him out of that one.) His dream is to become the president (Why the title is president, I have no idea) of the military, and change the dress code so all female officers must wear tiny miniskirts. (From the anime Fullmetal Alchemist.)

A/N: The first scene in this chapter was just a taste of how the war is going. Mickey's leading the defense of the worlds. Drawing upon the knights of Disney castle, and the millitarys of the worlds either under attack or that have fallen to darkness already to battle the darkness. So far, they've been forced to be on the defensive, but any general knows that you can't win a war without going on the offensive.


	3. the meeting

"So, that fireball that landed in the town was actually your friends?" Sora's mother asked Hannah. Hannah had called an emergency meeting, Sora, Kairi, Riku, and Sora's mother were there to see what was happening.

"Yep. They've just arrived it seems."

"Then what are we doing sitting around here?" Riku asked. "Let's go get them!" Hannah shook her head.

"The king wants us to keep a low profile." She explained. "People aren't supposed to know other worlds exist right? Crashing a Gummi Ship into the middle of town isn't a good way to do that. They'll try sneaking out of town. If they know where they are, they'll try looking for you three." She guestured to Kairi, Sora and Riku. "When they are looking for someone, they usually find them quickly. So they'll be at the door any minute. If they don't know where they are, they'll assume that the people are hostile and find somewhere to hide."

"Why would they think that we're out to kill them?" Sora asked.

"Their leader, Michael Bays, he's paranoid as hell. But then again, I don't really blame him. He's been running from the governments of our world for the past three years."

"Why?" everyone asked hesitantly.

"It's probably better to ask him that question. It's rather personal for him." Everyone nervously glanced at one another. This was the guy the king trusted to train them?

"What about the ship?" Kairi wondered. "You said that the king wanted you to keep the knowledge of other worlds a secret right? Then what are we supposed to do about that?"

"We leave it. Things will sort themselves out eventually. We call it 'the Roswell effect'. In the mean time, just be sure you all get enough sleep. If you startle them by accident, you're gonna need it. We begin the search for them in the morning."

* * *

Mike led the Renegades as they entered the cockpit of the Valkyria. George was already up there with an unconcious Martin. It was the only room in the entire ship that had windows, and a little recon was deemed necessary. Unfortunately for Mike, the first thing he saw was an ocean.

'God, I really hate you sometimes.' Was the last sane thought in his head before his phobia took over. He began twitching, muttering gibberish.

"Mike…" Issac said with a cautionary tone, his hand reaching for a pistol on his belt.

"We've got some off the worst luck in the worlds, don't we?" Naoki said. Christi nodded in agreement.

"Usually it's Issac that gets into these kinds of situations though." She commented. "It's a bitch when we have to deal with this."

"I just hope their luck isn't contagious." Naoki scoffed.

"Deal with what?" George asked. He hadn't really noticed much of a change in Mike. But soon understood. Mike screamed at the top of his lungs and began running around the ship like a madman, at speeds that George hadn't thought a human could reach. Elecrticity shooting off of his body, zapping the ship's controls and other things in the room. Issac drew his gun. A single loud bang, and Mike collapsed on the ground. The electricity suddenly flew back into his body when he fell.

"Did you just shoot him?" George shouted in disbelief. Issac ignored him. He slid the clip out of his gun and showed him the contents.

"Take a good look." Issac said. "Rubber bullets. They sting like hell and can knock you out, maybe they could kill if they hit the right spot." He slid the clip back into his pistol. "Mike gave me explicit instructions to do that to him if he began to freak out like that. I'm taking command here for the time being." Naoki and Christi nodded in agreement.

"I'll carry Mike." Naoki offered. "I'm stronger and have more stamina, so it'll be easier for me." Issac nodded.

"Sure, gorilla." He joked. "Christi!" He tossed her a pistol. "Rubber bullets. Scout out the area." He ordered. She dashed off in the direction of the exit. Issac grabbed Martin, who had been knocked out in the crash, and slung him over his shoulder. "I'll take care of him." He said to George. "Just focus on keeping out of sight." George nodded before leaving. He didn't like the idea of leaving his friend in Issac's care, (the man absolutely terrified him) but he knew that Issac knew what he was doing.

Naoki hoisted Mike up over her shoulders and followed Issac as he left.

* * *

The crash hadn't gone unnoticed by the townspeople. The ship itself was completely surrounded by police cars in a matter of minutes. Quickly followed by the media. Luckily, The ship had crashed on top of a building. When Christi opened the door of the Gummi only three cops were on the roof. Three quick shots to the head with rubber bullets knocked them out before they could react. George came out next.

"Did they see you?" He asked when he saw the cops on the ground.

"Yep." She replied. "They went down quickly. Hopefully, they might not even remember what happened when they wake up." Christi said. "Wait here a sec." She lay down on the ground and slowly crawled to the edge of the roof. Making sure that nothing on the ground would be able to notice her immediately, she looked down. She saw all the police cars and news vans surrounding them. "Not good." She muttered. She went back to George. "We're completely surrounded. It'll be dificult getting out of here undetected."

"That's just what makes it fun!" Issac said as he emerged from the ship. Naoki was close behind him.

"I guess that means that you have a plan?" Christi asked.

"As much as I hate the idea, we have Naoki here." He said, guesturing to her. Naoki rolled her eyes.

"Sure, let the Alpha Prototype solve your problems." She said sarcastically. "This is just like that time with the jar you couldn't open." She sighed. George looked at Issac, confused. This guy, a former special forces millitary man, had trouble opening a jar? "But we still have to get our stuff out of here. Even with **that**,we won't be able to carry our bags out of here."

"Just leave that to us! Issac said. "Get Mike and Martin out of here. We'll handle our stuff." Naoki eyed him suspiciously. She turned to Christi.

"He tries to read my diary again, kill him for me." She told her friend. Christi nodded, drawing one of her knives.

"He lays a finger on it, I'll cut it clean off!" She declared. Naoki smiled.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, time to get to work!" She said. George couldn't beleive what he was seeing. Naoki was growing feathers! Wings sprouted out of her back, and she shrank. A few minutes later, standing where Naoki had once been, stood a falcon in a pile of her clothes! Noticing the look on his face, Issac spoke up.

"She's an Alpha Prototype." Issac explained. "A human being with a supernatural power. Like the kind you'd find in a comic book."

"Yep!" The bird gleefully chirped. George jumped when she spoke. "Oh, come on. You can't expect me to give up my ability to talk?" Issac chuckeled.

"Her power is that she's able to manipulate DNA. She can transform into any animal she comes into contact with, or just give herself some of the characteristics of one or more of those animals at the same time. So she could have the reactions of a cat, the eyes of a hawk, the sense of smell of a bloodhound, and the healing capabilities of a starfish all at the same time. She can also do that to anyone she touches. It's saved our asses on more than a few occasions." Naoki hopped up on top of Mike, and he turned into a rat after a few minutes. She repeated this process with Martin. She grabbed Mike with her beak and grabbed Martin in her talons before flying off the roof.

"All right, let's get moving!" Issac said.

* * *

"Please, Lord Archon! Don't do it!" The pathetic creature before Archon Hespol pleaded. Hespol himself was looking out the window of his throne room, out into the city. The creature before him was just like him. A male Dark Eldar. One of Hespol's warriors held a pistol to the back of the man's head. The pistol was loaded with splinter rounds. Poisonous crystals that gave an agonized, yet quick death. It was considered a mercy to be killed in such a way after crossing a Kabal of Dark Eldar. Hespol was the leader, or Archon as they were more commonly known, of the Black blade kabal. A kabal known for their ruthlessness.

"You attempted to usurp my position while I was away with the other Generals of darkness. That alone warrants your death." The Eldar before him cringed. Hespol stood up from his throne. A sadistic grin plastered on his face. "Do you know what happens to Eldar when they die?" He asked. The petrified look on the prisoner's face told him that he knew. That didn't stop him from reminding him. He'd had a rough day and needed some fun. "Ten thousand years ago, in a night of terrible acts, the ancient Eldar empire accidently spawned the dark god, Slannesh. Slannesh's birth tore a hole in reality, over a hundred light-years wide. We now know this hole as the eye of terror. The Eldar caught in this hole were devoured, body and soul, by their own creation. Even now, Slannesh hungers for the souls of Eldar. He's slowly stealing our souls away, even as we speak. Watching another creature's pain, suffering, fear..." A look of delight flashed across Hespol's face as the Eldar before him realized what he was doing. "... temporarily restores us. but, once we die, Slannesh devours our souls." He looked deep into the eyes of his prisoner. Taking great pleasure from the fear in his eyes. "But that is not your fate." Hespol's warrior lowered his pistol. The Eldar prisoner suddenly looked up at him with hope in his eyes. Hespol looked to his warrior. "Give him to the Haemunculi." He ordered. The hope in the prisoner's eyes quickly turned to horror. The Haemunculi were the masters of torture. Being sent to them was a fate worse than death. The prisoner screamed as Hespol's warrior dragged him away. Hespol sat in his throne, and looked back out into the city. "It's good to be back." He said.

"It's good to have you back, Archon." A female dark Eldar emerged from the shadows of the room. She wore form-fitting armor. More to show off her seductive body than for any real protection. She smiled at Hespol. "I was beginning to worry if you'd forgotten how our politics worked after spending so much time with those mortals."

"Those mortals are a means to an end." Hespol replied. "Once they've outlived their usefulness, I'll enslave them all." He turned to his aide at the door. "Fetch us some entertainment." He ordered. His aide nodded and left the room. Suddenly, he felt the other Dark Eldar's hand on his shoulder. A surge of adrenaline shot through his body as her sharp nails dug into his shoulder.

"Why did you call me here Hespol? You miss me? Or do you have a job for me?" She asked. Hespol looked deep into her eyes. She was one of his Succubus partners. Most Archons formed alliances with the champions of the gladitiorial arenas in their distiricts. These arena champions were known as Succubi. Before him stood a woman that could easily kill him a thousand ways. Each one more painful than the last. She was his best assassin, the only one he could trust with this.

"My lord has entrusted me to bring him the heads of the three keyblade bearers. I want you to bring them to me, alive. Our raid on their home world is still being prepared. Until then, I want some more... interesting toys to play with." The succubus smiled.

"I hope they present me with a challenge." She said. "Those last few targets you gave me were so boring." Hespol smiled.

"My dear, if rumors are to be beleived, each of them have the potential to destroy an entire army." The succubus laughed.

"I'll beleive that when I see it myself!" She said. She walked away, towards the door.

"Hex!" Hespol called. The succubus turned around at the sound of her name. "You have one week to bring them to me. After one week, my warriors will have orders to shoot you on sight." She grinned.

"Time limit, just how I love it!" She said before leaving. As she left, Hespol's aide entered. Dragging a young human girl, kicking and screaming, behind him. He threw her into the room. Hespol pressed a button on his throne, and his aide gasped with pleasure as drugs flooded his system. Hespol examined his prey. She was young, scared, freshly caught. Just how he liked it.

Her screams of pain and terror would echo throughout the palace until he got his hands on his prize.

* * *

Hannah, Sora, Riku, and Kairi stood on the beach of the island the keyblade wielders used to play. For the most part, it was deserted at night, and Hannah beleived that it was the best place to look for her friends.

"I hate this place." Hannah muttered. She never really liked summer, and since a tropical island was practically summer all year round, she considered the islands to be hell. Up ahead of her, Sora, Riku and Kairi were waiting for her. She ran to catch up to them.

"Is something wrong?" Sora asked. "We could stop and take a break?" Hannah shook her head.

"I'm fine. Our first priority is to find my friends as soon as possible." She said. "Is there some kind of cave here? Or some place that a few people could hide out in? They'd most likely be there." As soon as the words left her mouth, she could practically see the light bulbs above their heads.

"There is this one place..." Kairi began.

"Well, let's go!" Hannah said. "Tell me about it on the way!" They all ran in the direction of the Secret Place, telling Hannah about how they used to play there and make carvings on the walls. By the time they arrived at the entrance of the cave, Hannah had been told almost everything about the place. Riku noticed footprints in the sand leading to the cave.

"There are about four sets of tracks." He told them, examining the prints. He pointed to two prints in particular. "These two are unusually deep, suggesting that whoever made them was carrying a heavy load."

"Whoa, when did you learn how to do that?" Sora asked.

"I traveled the worlds for a year while you were sleeping. You think I wouldn't pick up a few tricks?" He replied.

"There's four Renegades." Hannah said. "And let's not forget about the two man crew of the Gummi ship. That's a total of six people."

"The heavy loads that two of them are carrying could be the fifth and sixth." Riku suggested. "I'm just going to see if anyone's in here." He entered the cave before Hannah could say anything. But by the look on her face, he'd just made a big mistake. A loud bang from inside the cave proved her right.

"Yep, they're here." She said. "I'll go in first since they actually know me. You two follow me." She led the two into the cave. Almost immediately, they found Riku on the ground.

"Move, and you join him." A man's voice ordered. The sound of a gun being loaded echoed through the cave.

"Please tell me the kid is alive Issac." Hannah said. Her voice tinted with annoyance. Everyone could practically hear Issac stumble when he realized who he was talking to.

"H-Hannah?" He asked. "Is that you?" Issac practically came jumping out from deeper in the cave. "Holy shit! What are you doing here?" He had a huge smile plastered on his face. He walked up to her. His arms wide open. Hannah punched him in the face. Sending Issac straight to the floor.

"Is the kid alive or not?" She yelled in his face.

"Rubber bullets!" Issac cried, shocked by the sudden pain in his face. "He's fine! I swear!" Hannah sighed and helped Issac back to his feet.

"What am I gonna do with you?" She wondered. "Oh, wait, I got an idea!" She punched him again.

"Oww! What the hell was that for?"

"For making me worry about you! jackass!" She answered. She pulled him back up and kissed him. Issac smiled when they parted.

"Same reason?" He asked.

"Same reason." She smiled back.

"Ahem." Sora and Kairi said simutaniously. Startling the reunited couple.

"Sorry!" Hannah said as she moved back away from Issac. "This is my boyfriend, Issac."

"And these two are...?" Issac asked.

"Sora and Kairi." Hannah replied. "The one on the ground is Riku. They're your new students." Issac shot her a look that said: 'seriously?'

"I guess we landed on the right world." He said. "I'm gonna go tell the others." He turned back to go deeper into the cave. He looked back at everyone. "Follow me, I'll introduce you to your new teachers." They followed him to the back of the cave.

George and Martin sat next to the door in the cave. Naoki (now human and clothed again) was tending to Martin's missing arm. Using her power to regrow his arm. Christi was investigating the door itself, wondering as to why there was such a thing here in the first place. Mike was still out cold, and was curled up in a corner of the cave.

"This is Mike, our leader. Leave the guy be, he woke up on the boat ride here." Issac explained. Hannah went wide-eyed.

"Ouch." She said. Turning to Sora and Kairi. "He's got the most severe case of hydrophobia in history." she sighed. "He's gonna have a lot of fun on these islands." She added sarcastically.

"Well, well, if it isn't the ice bitch." Naoki said when she noticed Hannah. "What do you want now?"

"The king wanted to know if you were alive or not." She calmly replied. "So he sent me to find you. Then I bumped into your new students along the way." She gestured to Sora and Kairi. Naoki nodded to them, not taking her glaring, hateful eyes off Hannah.

"What's with her?" Kairi whispered to Hannah once Naoki went back to her work.

"Long story, I'll tell you at some point... if ever." She replied.

"She doesn't, I will!" Naoki called from across the cave. A sudden scream from Mike announced he was awake.

"Run for your lives!" Mike shot back up and ran straight into a wall. He backed up, holding his head. "Ow."

"Good to see you're up and about." Issac laughed as he gently helped his cousin back to the ground.

"Shut up asshole."

"Love you too man." The two laughed.

"So, I know you." Mike said to Hannah. "But I don't think I know you." He gestured to Sora and Kairi. "Unless the blow to the head did something to my memory."

"I'm Sora."

"Kairi."

"Ah, so you are two of my new students." Mike said. "Is the third one with you? Or did Issac accidently shoot him?" The two of them looked at Issac, who had a guilty look on his face. Mike followed their gaze. "Really? What's it with you and shooting things?"

"In my defense, I was using rubber bullets." Issac said. Mike shook his head.

"Remind me to talk to you about that habit of yours." This continued for a while. Sora and Kairi exchanged nervous glances. This was going to be interesting.

A/N: something about this chapter just plain annoys me. It's easily my least favorite that I've written so far. Once the Arc is completed I'll rewrite chapters like this one.


	4. a startling vision

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Warhammer 40k, or any of the other anime, games, or whatever else I throw in. I do own my OCs and that's pretty much it.

* * *

A day had passed since the group had found the Renegades hiding out in the secret place. Hannah had left soon after. Saying she had to let the king know that the Renegades had indeed made it safely. George and Martin stayed behind on the islands. Martin's missing arm was still being regrown by Naoki, so he had to stay, and George refused to leave his friend alone with the Renegades. Sora's mother had offered to let them all stay at her house, but Mike refused the offer. He said that he was planning on looking for a place of their own and they would live on the play island until he found a place in town. When he asked when the earliest he could start training them, he was surprised to learn that they had no school, since his ship had crashed into the school of all places and it was closed for a month. Much to his dismay, he also learned that the only place big enough, and deserted enough for the training was on the beach of the play island. He told his new students to get plenty of rest that night, since they'd desperately need it when they began training in the morning.

* * *

Sora practically leapt out of his bed. Panting and drenched in sweat. Images of the fream he'd just had flashed before his eyes. An armored giant of a man riding a massive wolf, charging into a mass of heartless, tearing them apart with nothing but his clawed hands. A massive army of ordinary men blasting heartless apart with strange laser weaponry. A giant green humanoid monster encased in metal armor tearing apart tanks effortlessly. And, what made him shiver the most: a tall, slender man torturing a poor defenseless girl. Many other scenes had flashed through his mind, but these were the strongest. The ones that seemed to sear themselves into his memory.

"What... was that?" He wondered aloud. A distinct chuckling sound alerted him to the presence of another person in his room. This other person wore a cloak, simmilar to the ones used by the organization. He had his hood up, so Sora couldn't make out his face.

"That was a vision." The man explained before vanishing in a cloud of black dust. Sora just stared at the place the man once stood for a long time. Trying to comprehend what he just experienced. Try as he might, Sora couldn't fall back asleep the rest of the night. He sat on his bed until the sun came up. Just trying to understand what was happening.

* * *

So far, Sora had to say that his new teacher was rather strange. The man kept staring at the ocean as if he expected it to jump at him and eat him. He kept flinching at each wave.

"So..." He said before jumping away from a large wave. He took a moment to collect himself before continuing. "So, before I can teach you, I need to know what level of skill you are at." He sanpped his fingers, and Christi stepped forward, a pair of knives in her hands. "Kairi, I'll start with you since you are new to the keyblade, I want you to fight Christi." Kairi nervously stepped forward despite the encouragement from both Sora and Riku.

"Knock her on her ass!" Riku called out.

"You can do it Kairi!" Sora cheered with his signature grin plastered on his face. Kairi smiled back.

"If you're done staring at your boyfirend," Issac began. Sora apparently didn't hear that remark. "Maybe we could get this show on the road?" Kairi's face flushed red.

"Y-yeah." She said. Summoning her keyblade and dropping into a fighting stance.

"The rules are simple." Mike said. His eyes never leaving the water. "I will decide the winner. Until then, fight as though you mean to kill." He turned to Riku and Sora. "You two are not allowed to assist Kairi in any way, shape or form." Riku and Sora nodded in understanding. "Now... begin!"

Kairi expected Christi to charge at her and swing her knives wildly. and nearly stumbled in surprise when she didn't. She stood where she was. Slowly circling her target. Her eyes were narrowed into an intimidating glare that sent chills down Kairi's spine. It reminded her of a predator watching her prey. Kairi gripped her blade tightly. That's when Christi struck. In a flash of movement, she charged Kairi, and kicked the keyblade. Kairi watched on in shock as the keyblade flew out of her hands. Christi's knife was now suddenly an inch away from her throat.

"Christi wins round one." Mike announced. Still staring at the ocean. "Get ready for round two." Kairi's keyblade reappeared in her hands. And christi backed away from her.

"Good form." Issac commented from the sidelines. "But your grip on the blade was too tight. Hold it in a more relaxed manner, or it'll just jerk out of your hands when something strikes it."

"Thanks. I'll try it." She said. She and Christi set back up for round two.

"Ready!" They both said.

"Round two! Begin!"

Once again, Christi didn't charge in headlong. She stood back and watched. Waiting for the right moment to strike. Kairi also stood her ground.

"Reminds me of those old stories of samurai when they dueled to the death." Issac said to Mike.

"It's more a battle of wills at this point." Mike replied. He was now actually watching the fight rather than the water. "The anxiety will overcome one of them. That one will be the first to act." Issac nodded.

"That one will leave herself open." He added. "And the other will strike. Ending the match in one blow. Who do you think will break first?"

"I have my money on Kairi." Mike said.

"How much?" Issac replied slyly. "I bet ten bucks that Christi will be the one to snap first."

"You're on." Mike answered.

The two girls still hadn't moved since the match started. Both were watching, waiting for the other to strike, to show an opening, anything. Finally, Christi twitched. It wasn't much, but it was an opening. Kairi charged. she aimed a blow at Christi's head, which Christi blocked with her knives.

"Well now, this is interesting." Issac said. "Christi's at a disadvantage due to her smaller weapons, but has the advantage in experiance. Almost evens out the odds."

"Then do it." Mike ordered. "I wonder if they'll pass my little test." Issac grabbed his pistol, loaded it with rubber bullets, and fired. The bullet hit Kairi in the back. Christi used the opening this provided to shove the keyblade away and thrust her knife up against Kairi's throat.

"Christi wins!" Mike declared.

"Hey!" Sora shouted. "Issac shot Kairi in the middle of her fight! That's not fair!" Mike glared at Sora.

"First rule of war: There are no rules. Anything is allowed, so long as you are able to walk away alive and your enemy isn't when the smoke clears. It's how we've fought for the past three years, and how we've survived this long." He turned back to Christi and Kairi. "Prepare for round three!" He turned to Issac. "And you owe me ten bucks!"

"What? Christi won!"

"But she snapped from the anxiety first! That's what we were betting on!"

This process (Minus Issac's bets with Mike, he'd learned his lesson) continued for nearly an hour. Christi and Kairi would constantly go at it, but Christi always won. Every time Kairi seemed to be getting the upper hand, Issac would shoot her and Christi would claim victory. Every time Sora or Riku protested against this, Mike just glared at them and ordered the next round to start. This infuriated Sora. On a few occasions he almost tried to help Kairi, but reconsidered since Mike had told them not to. And the Teacher's nearly demonic glare didn't help much.

"C-could we take a short break?" Kairi asked Mike after losing to Christi for the twentieth time. She was exausted to the point where her keyblade had vanished, and was covered in bruises from where Issac shot her. Mike glared at her.

"Prepare for round twenty-one!" He ordered. Chills were sent down her spine from the threatening tone in his voice. It sounded... primal, beastial, almost as if some kind of aggressive monster was speaking to her.

Christi was in much better condition. She was getting tired, but that didn't stop her from fighting. She faced Kairi.

"Begin!" Mike ordered. Christi didn't even bother waiting anymore. She ran at Kairi, her blades at the ready. Only to be smashed in the side by the Kingdom Key. The impact knocked Christi to the ground, gasping for breath.

"That's enough!" Sora roared. "Kairi's spent! She can't fight anymore!" Mike glared at him.

"I gave you an order not to interfere." He growled.

"This isn't even training anymore! You're just beating her for no reason! Give me one reason I shouldn't interfere!" Sora countered. MIke's glare slowly changed to a proud smile.

"Congradulations. you passed my test." He said. His students looked at him with looks of confusion. Before explaining, he knelt next to Christi. "You alright?" He asked. She nodded.

"Just had the wind knocked out of me." She told him in between pained breaths.

"Sorry for pushing you so hard. Take a break, you've more than earned it." Now his students were even more confused. His personality had just done a complete 180. He looked at Kairi. "I'm terribly sorry for how hard I pushed you. Take the rest of the day's training off." She blinked in surprise.

"I think you need to explain a few things." Issac pointed out.

"I was testing you." Mike said. "We have no use for people who blindly follow orders without the ability to think and act for themselves." He walked up to Sora. "You passed. Not nearly as soon as I had hoped, but you passed." He looked at Riku. "You didn't. As punishment, you now have to fight Issac for twenty rounds." Issac grinned wildly and started giggling like a giddy schoolgirl.

"Oh, what fun." Riku said grimly.

"That's the spirit! Show me what you're made of!" Issac cheered happily. Completely ignoring the sarcasm in Riku's voice. The two set themselves up for the match.

"Begin!" Mike ordered. Riku and Issac charged at one another. Riku wielding the way to dawn, and Issac wielding a katana. The two clashed. Swinging their blades in an intricate dance where one misstep could prove fatal. As those two settled in to a kind of rithym, Mike turned to Christi who was sitting on a nearby rock, enjoying the match. Kairi sat next to her, the two were chatting away.

"I'll take care of it." She said when she noticed Mike looking at her. "You just focus on what you have to do."

"Thanks." Mike replied. He turned back to Sora. "Christi's going to take over the role of refferee for their match so I can have a spar with you. Get ready." Sora nodded. Summoning the Kingdom Key and dropping into a fighting stance. Mike drew his Kodachi. "Begin." Sora charged at Mike. he swung at Mike's midsection, only to have Mike block it. Now that the keyblade was preocupied, Mike kicked Sora in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Mike swung at Sora's throat.

"Gravity!" Sora cried. Pointing his blade at Mike. Mike felt himself be yanked to the ground. He hit the sand and stayed down long enough for Sora to get back to his feet. Once the mysterious weight left, Mike jumped back to his feet just in time to block another attack.

"You're pretty good at this." Mike said. A grin slowly found it's way onto his face. He kicked at Sora's knees in an attempt to make him stumble. Sora dodged the kick. He'd fallen for that trick once, he wouldn't again. Mike shoved Sora away and fell back into his stance. Just as Christi had done when she fought Kairi, Mike watched Sora's every move, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Sora on the other hand, continued to surprise Mike with his skill. He could already tell that his time training this boy was going to be fun.

* * *

Hex took one long last look at the city before stepping on the 'Raider' transport. She was going to miss this place.

It had taken her nearly an entire day, but she had selected her nine best Wyches, the mele experts of the Dark Eldar, to accompany her on her mission. Each one wore the same form-fitting armor that she did, and carried a pistol loaded with splinter rounds, as well as the variety of barbed weapons commonly employed by Wyches. One of them instead carried a spear and a net laced with spikes. Archon Hespol had given her a 'raider'. A fast moving vehicle armed with a dark lance. An anti-tank weapon capable of turning even the most powerful armor into a smoldering ruin.

As Hex and her Wyches loaded onto the raider, the driver of the vehicle gazed upon them with that same look that most had when gazing upon a Succubus. A delightful mix of lust, awe, and fear. Hex flipped a switch on her own weapon, the infamous Agonizer whip. It's barbed tip spat electrical energy at the driver, who silently went back to work.

One of the Wyches pulled out ten syringes, each one filled with the popular drug called splintermind, and passed them out amongst the group. They were to be used just before the fighting began.

"Driver!" Hex called. "Get us to the Destiny Islands!" She ordered. The driver pressed a button on his control pad, and before them, reality seemed to tear a hole in itself. Revealing a series of islands on the other side of the hole. The raider took off. Speeding into the hole at speeds that sent adrenaline rushing through Hex and her Wyches. Hex, like most Dark Eldar, lived for this kind of thrill. She could feel the wind against her face, the sheer speed they were traveling at threatening to throw her off the ship. She could see one of the Wyches grab ahold of the chains attached to the hull and jump over the railing. She stood on the hull of the Raider, her grip on the chain being the only thing preventing her from falling to her death.

Once the Raider was through the portal, it seemed to shimmer in the light from the sunset. in a matter of seconds, it became invisible as it sped towards the Islands.

Hex smiled as she imagined the pain and horror she would inflict upon these islands when the time came for the invasion. She half expected anti-aircraft fire to be exploding around her. As most of the raids she had been apart of usually began like that. She was almost disapointed. She pointed to one of the smaller islands, and the driver altered his course. Heading straight for the island now. Hex smiled. She couldn't wait to begin the hunt.

* * *

"Something bothering you Sora?" Mike asked. Everyone was taking a long break after training for hours on end. They were all watching the sunset. But Sora had a glazed look in his eye.

"No, nothing." He replied.

"You're lying." Mike said. "I can tell. Something's bothering you. Has been bothering you all day." Sora sighed.

"I had this weird dream last night, but then this guy showed up after I woke up and told me that it wasn't a dream. It was a vision." Mike looked around for the others. Issac and Riku were still on round nineteen of the twenty he'd ordered them to do, and Kairi and Christi were chit-chatting away a few feet away. Luckily, Naoki was still away, scouting possible houses for the Renegades to live in while they were here. No one would overhear what they would discuss.

"Tell me about it." He said. "What about this dream made it so weird?"

"I saw... first I saw this giant of a man. He charged into a mob of heartless, tearing them apart..." Sora was shaking as he began to recall what he saw last night.

"I get it. It was a violent dream, and you're worried about what that guy meant when he said it was a vision?" Sora nodded. "Here's my advice: don't talk about it. If that guy you mentioned is who I think he is, he wouldn't want you to."

"You know him?"

"In a sense. Just trust me when I say that he doesn't like it when you talk about what he shows you. When I first met him he threatened to kill me if I told anyone about him, and I have no doubt that he could kill all of us without breaking a sweat." Sora's eyes widened in alarm. He opened his mouth to say something but Mike interupted him. "Don't worry. He's harmless if you don't piss him off. He's actually a nice guy. The vision he gave you must have some kind of hidden warning in there. Try to figure it out when you have the time." Sora reluctantly nodded.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Mike sent the teens back home soon after the sun had set. Instructing them to get lots of rest for tomorrow's training. Once the two groups went their seperate ways, the Renegades walked back inside The Secret Place.

* * *

"So, what did you think?" Issac asked Mike as they watched their students leave.

"About what?"

"Those kids obviously! I saw the way you and that Sora kid fought. If I didn't know you were holding back, I'd have thought he was pretty damn good!" Mike smiled. He held up his hand. Sparks of electricity shot out of it and danced across the opening of the cave before re-entering his hand.

"That's pretty much all I didn't use. That kid is really amazing." He shook his head sadly. "I really wish that he didn't have to get involved." Issac shot his cousin a confused look.

"Get involved in what exactly? This war?"

"Close. War in general." He sighed. "Why did the keyblade pick him? Why did it have to pick a kid with such a good heart to suffer through this kind of hell?"

"Do you honestly think the keyblade would have picked him if he didn't have that heart?" Issac asked. Mike chuckled.

"I suppose you're right." He looked at his last blood relative with a look of pride. "I really hate it when your right sometimes."

"I do too."

"Hey!" a girl's voice called from behind them. Mike and Issac turned around to see Naoki running after them.

"Naoki! How'd the house hunting go?" Mike asked. Naoki had a huge grin on her face. She gave him some papers before entering the cave.

"I'm gonna pack up my stuff." She said as she passed them. Mike raised an eyebrow in confusion before turning his attention to the papers in his hand.

"Holy shit!" He yelled suddenly. Issac looked over Mike's shoulder and began reading the papers himself.

"Ha! I never would have thought!" He said enthusiasticaly. "Got us a place and somewhere to open up a buisness."

"Quick, Issac! Knock me out so we can get to the main island!"

"Will do." Issac said, pulling out his pistol and shooting Mike with the rubber bullets. Mike collapsed.

"Hey, guys?" Christi spoke as she left the cave. She glanced at Mike and turned to Issac. "Was that really necessary?"

"He asked me to."

"Just like that time in London?"

"This time he really did ask me."

"Whatever, Naoki told me to pack up. Is something wrong?"

"Nope. For once in our lives, things are actually starting to go right." Christi gave him a curious look.

Inside the cave, Naoki grabbed her things. Her sleeping bag, her weapons, all that remained was her backpack. When she grabbed that, she noticed something she hadn't before. A simple carving in the wall, hidden behind her backpack.

"What's this?" She wondered aloud. She knelt down and examined the carving. After a few minutes of examination, she realized that it was a picture of Sora and Kairi sharing two star shaped objects. She silently gazed at the carving for a few seconds before grabbing her bag and leaving the cave. She made a mental note to ask about it later. Something about it seemed to be much more than just a carving.

* * *

Hespol twitched with annoyance. First, he'd been forced to deal with rebels when he'd returned home, and now his warriors, roused by the conflict, were crying out for more blood. He knew Destiny Islands had a relatively smaller population than most worlds, and his warriors would ridicule him for choosing such a small target. That would lead to rumors, rumors that would reach the ears of the other Archons, or possibly even Vect himself, ruler of the Dark Eldar. Vect was a paranoid old Eldar who'd been alive for more than ten thousand years. Before Hespol was even born, He'd murdered his way to the top of Dark Eldar society. And constantly pitted the Archons against one another. Hespol was one of the more powerful Archons, so Vect most likely saw him as a threat to his rule. A small one, but a threat nonetheless. Attracting Vect's attention was something he couldn't afford at this point. It would be the death of him.

"My Archon," one of his guards spoke. Pulling Hespol out of his thoughts. "The raiding forces are ready." Hespol nodded. His guard was one of the infamous Incubi. Clad in the greatest armor the Eldar could create, and brandishing massive two-handed swords called klaives, they were amongst the greatest warriors an Archon could call upon. They stood atop a small vehicle known as a venom. The personal craft of the more influential Eldar. It carried two Splinter Cannons, massive machine guns that fired a constant stream of splinter crystals.

"Very well." The Archon replied. He looked over his massive fleet. Hundreds of raider skifs, loaded with wyches and his own Kabalite warriors, a few even had incubi. dozens of ravager skifs, preparing their heavy weapons for battle. a few squadrons of Razorwing jetfighters, the fastest and among the most powerful vehicles in the Dark Eldar armory. amongst the mass, Reaver jetbikes flew amongst the massive fleet. Flying around the ships at speeds that most vehicles couldn't hope to achieve. Their drivers howling with laughter as they defied death with every turn. Flying above the armada were the scourges, Dark Eldar that had undergone the painfull surgery of having wings drafted onto their backs.

"Impressive is it not?" An ancient-looking Eldar next to Hespol commented. Hespol glared at him. He was one of the Haemonculi. One of the oldest. Nearly seven thousand years old.

"Why did you want to come along? You get plenty of victims working as a haemonculi." Hespol asked.

"I wanted to test out my new toy." He replied with a sadistic smile. He gestured to a nearby floating monster monster. Hespol's eyes grew wide in shock and horror at what he saw. "Like what I did with your traitor? He's yours now. He will forever follow your commands and is even more dangerous than a horde of Incubi." Hespol turned away from the monstrosity.

"I'd heard stories, but I've never actually seen one." He said. The Haemonculli flashed a smile. Delighted that even after all these centuries he could still make an Archon uneasy.

"You are a young Archon. Barely a child compared to me. If you survive long enough, you will find that this is nothing compared to what we Haemonculi are fully capable of." He said. Hespol didn't reply. Instead, he took a step back toward his three incubi bodyguards. He grabbed his communication device, and spoke into it.

"Open the webway." He ordered. A massive hole in reality opened up before him. Revealing a world of splendor. In the distance, a massive gothic style fortress rose above the mountains. The Haemonculi's eyes grew wide with shock.

"What arrogance!" He yelled. "You do realize what that is don't you!"

"The fortress-monastary of the Iron Kights space marine chapter." Hespol calmly replied.

"Exactly!" The Haemunculi responded. "These are Space Marines! The greatest warriors of Humanity! five hundred of them butchered and destroyed several districts of our beloved Cammoragh five thousand years ago! This is their home! There will be nearly a thousand of them!"

"And? They are my prefered prey." He smiled at the Haemonculi. "If you survive long enough, you'll find that the screams of despair belonging to these great heroes is the most satisfying." He said. The Haemunculi was outraged. This youngster dared twis his own words to mock him! Before he could say anything, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his gut. He looked down, and realized in horror that Splinter crystals were embedded in his stomach. Looking up, he saw Hespol holding a Splinter pistol, pointing it at him. "Keyword: **if**." The Haemonculi began to twitch and spasm as the poison began to do its work. Pain shot through every cell in his body. He screamed in agony as the spasms threw him off the Venom, sending him spiraling down to the city streets, miles below.

Even before he hit the ground, his limbs spasmed with such power that they ripped themselves off. By the time he hit the ground, he was a shower of body parts and gore raining down upon the city. On the streets of the city, dark eldar emerged from the shadows. They were alight with sickly green or light blue flames and didn't speak. Each one carried a jagged sword pulsating with dark power. They were the mandrakes, the most terrifying of all Dark Eldar. Half Eldar, Half daemon by most accounts. The Mandrakes quickly snatched up as much of the dead Heamunculus as possible, often coming to blows over some pieces, and scurried away into the dark to enjoy their meal. All but one. That one was the most terrifying of all Mandrakes. Kheradruakh the decapitator. Unlike his fellow mandrakes, the decapitator had four arms, carrying a single blade. The decapitator looked up at Hespol's fleet with much interest. Other Mandrakes emerged from the shadows and stood at his side. The decapitator hissed and scurried off into the shadows, followed by the other mandrakes.

Hespol felt a shudder of pleasure shoot down his spine listening to the old Eldar's screams as he fell. He knew that his entire armada felt the same sensation. He held his comm up and spoke one small word into it.

"Begin." With blinding speed, his armada flew into the portal. Onward towards battle, and the pain they would bring down upon their victims.

* * *

"Wow." It was all Christi could say. In front of here was something she thought she'd never have again since her's was destroyed nearly three years ago.

"That's a big house." Issac commented. It was a simple house, two bedrooms, single floor, not much different from most of the other houses in the area. But to the Reneades, who'd been living in abandoned buildings or hotels for the past three years, it was more than they ever hoped they could have again.

Christi turned to see the others. Issac seemed bored, like usual. but Naoki, who'd lived in an apartment with her father before she became a renegade, was extrememly excited. Mike almost looked like he was going to cry. To him, it was like everything he'd done for the past few years were starting to finally pay off. Christi just couldn't contain herself anymore. She was too excited, it a new begining. A chance at a life she thought she'd never have again.

"What are we waiting for guys?" She called. "Welcome home!" She turned and ran inside, slowly followed by the others. All of them had smiles plastered on their faces.

Watching from their invisible raider, Hex and her Wyches smiled. Their fangs gleaming in the light of the full moon.

"We'll observe them, learn about them, and then we'll strike." Hex said. "The keyblade users are our targets, but these humans are all ours when the time comes." She licked her lips with anticipation. "I can already taste their screams." She purred.

A/N: So now we get to see the full force of Hespol. He's really terrifying if you understand just how powerful that armada is. I don't expect most of you to, since he's from a completely different game. Just trust me when I say that he's one of the more dangerous generals of darkness.


	5. Ambush!

A few days had passed since training had started. Sora, Kairi, and Riku were constantly pushing the limits of their bodies every day. If they weren't sleeping or eating, they were training with the renegades. The responsibilities of teaching them was split up between the Renegades so that each could teach what it was they were good at. Mike was put in charge of helping them create various new ways of using their magic (Despite not being able to use magic himself, he learned the theories from Merlin and Yen Sid). Issac taught them how to use guns, since they'd have to use them sooner or later, and tactics. Naoki taught anatomy and first aid, the latter of which, Kairi showed an unusual talent. Christi taught them how how to fight with knives, since they were so versatile and "Fun" as she put it. That was just for morning classes. After noon, they'd spar. Putting everything they'd learned to the test in a furious six hours of non-stop combat.

At six, they'd try scenario battles. They key bearers vs the renegades in mock ambushes, raids, and other missions they'd likely partake in at some point. Mike even managed to convince some of the local teens to join in as cannon fodder for these battles. Odly, they never asked any questions about the keyblades or magic that was used in these fights. It was almost as if they didn't even see it, or remember them long enough to ask questions. At eight, they'd take their only break besides lunch. They'd talk during these breaks. Get to know one another a bit better and talk about stories from their pasts. After a while of that, they'd all go home and sleep.

Everyone was shocked once the Renegades revealed that they'd bought a house on the beach. Sora's mother had asked where they'd gotten the money to buy it, Mike's reply was a sly "You sure you want to know?" Nobody wanted to know that badly, so he didn't tell them that it was actually the king who had given them the money. The part of him that enjoyed pranks was overjoyed.

* * *

"Anyone think we should have a party?" Naoki asked suddenly after the fourth night of training. Everyone stared at her. "What? I think we all deserve a chance to have some fun after all the hard work we've been putting into this."

"I think you just want an excuse for kareoke." Riku said. One of the first things they had learned about the girl was that she loved to sing, and kareoke was a big part of her life before she became a renegade.

"I think it's a good idea." Issac said. "Tommorow's the one month anniversary, maybe we could do it as a memorial?"

"Memorial?" Kairi asked. "For what?" The faces of the renegades darkened.

"Our world was attacked by heartless." Christi sadly explained. "Tommorow will make it a full month since it was destroyed."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kairi apoloized.

"Don't worry about it." Christi replied. "You didn't know." She quickly returned to her usual cheery self. "But that party is a good idea! I can't remember the last time I just cut loose and had fun!"

"So, pelting me in the face with a cocoanut this morning didn't count as fun?" Sora joked.

"Nah, that was fun, but I do that to Issac everyday, and I REALLY want to have a party."

"I don't know where she get's them." Issac said.

"Your bag maybe?" Half the group suggested and laughed. Issac carried a bag around with him wherever he went, and it seemed to be bottomless when it came to weapons. All of the paintball markers that they used for the scenario battles somehow fit into that bag. And the most recent one had nearly twenty people all armed with them. As a result, the boys were covered in splotches of bright neon paint. The girls weren't covered in paint because nobody wanted to piss them off by shooting their hair or clothes or something else that would turn them into a rage-fueled monster. Issac had made that mistake in the first scenario match they'd done, splattering Kairi's favorite pink blouse in bright blue. He still had the bruises.

"Meh, probably." Was the maniac's reply.

"I'm fine with a party." Riku said. He looked at Sora, Kairi, and Mike. The only ones who hadn't spoken on the issue.

"Why not?" Sora said.

"Sure, sounds fun." Kairi agreed. Everyone looked at Mike expectantly.

"Well, we don't have our own house for no reason you know." He said. "You guys deserve a bit of a break anyway. We'll just have morning classes tomorow, and a few sparring matches, then meet up at our place around six."

"Why so late?" Someone asked. Most likely one of the girls.

"So we have some time to plan it out." He answered. "Anyone have an idea on what to do about the music?"

"Yay!" Everyone cheered, completely ignoring him. They were so caught up in the moment that nobody noticed as Mike and Issac seperated themselves from the group and took a short walk down the beach.

"You sure about this?" Issac asked once they were a safe enough distance from the pack. "It's unlike you to throw a party without something to celebrate."

"I know." The younger man admitted. "But those kids will be thrown into the fires of war soon enough. I may as well give them a few good memories before they go off to risk their lives. Quite possibly even lose them."

"Dude, you need to stop thinking like that." Issac said. A look of concern came over his face. "I know you feel guilty about what happened back home but..."

"I'm fine Issac." Mike interrupted. "Sixty-four might have died, but if he did he died fighting. Fighting for his world to have a chance at survival." Issac's face went cold.

"I thought you felt guilty about our twenty-something supporters that died in the fighting!" He said. His words were quiet, but full of barely contained rage. "I wasn't even sure if Hannah had made it out until just a few days ago! We had some close friends that died in that battle, and here you are ignoring their sacrifices and mourning a son-of-a-bitch that tried to turn our asses into molten slag everytime we met!" He punched Mike in the face. Knocking his cousin to the ground. "Maybe you Alpha Prototypes really don't care about us normal humans like I first thought."

"Don't you dare even think that!" Mike said. He glared at Issac, his crimson eyes literally glowing in his rage. "I told them all that they would most likely die for helping us. I told them that they had to make their peace and treasure every moment of their lives! We may not have expected the heartless, but we all expected to die fighting! Some of them escaped, and now live peaceful lives at Radiant garden." He stood back up, glaring into the older man's eyes. "I already mourned those we that lost, now let me mourn my rival in peace. Good night!" With that, he marched off in the direction of the house. Issac glared back, eventually rejoining the group behind him.

Above them, Hex and her wyches stood at the edge of their cloaked raider, staring at Mike.

"If we were to launch an assault now, we'd catch them off guard long enough to capture the key bearers." One of the wyches next to Hex suggested. He was a male wych, a rarity amongst the Dark Eldar.

"No. That one gives me a bad feeling." Hex replied. "We will have other opportunities, for now we continue to watch."

* * *

The next day went as planned. In the morning, they had their classes. Mike worked with Sora on how to use the gravity spell differently. (Both wore evil grins after the class was over, so they probably came up with something good.) Riku started working on an idea he had about infusing magic into the ammo of a rifle. Much to Mike's aproval and Issac's glee. Kairi and Naoki started experimenting on how first aid and healing magic might work together. (Issac was their guinea pig for those of you who might have been wondering.) And Christi came up with an idea on how to use the gravity spell to help thrown knives hit their targets. She didn't like the idea, saying that it made it too easy to hit something, and that took the fun out of it, but that it would be good for the keyblade wielders until they were good enough to hit something.

The first spar of the day was between Sora and Mike. All of their fights had been close, but this time, Mike decided that it was time he stopped holding back.

"Fight!" Kairi shouted. It was her turn to be the judge this time. The two combatants charged at one another, blades in their hands and determination in their eyes. When they met, their blades smashed together with a loud "clang!" Their blades moving at lightning speed, Sora and Mike entered into the intricate dance called combat. Eventually, Sora seemed to gain the advantage. Mike tried to back off, but Sora didn't give him the chance. The mentor couldn't help but smile at his student's progress. While Sora had talent from the start, talent was nothing if you didn't have the skill, training, and experiance to make use of it. He shuddered at the thought of how powerful the kid would be once he'd been in a few battles.

The spar went on for a while before Mike was declared the winner. Sora muttered something under his breath about his opponant teleporting or something.

The final parts of the match actually were a little wierd. If they thought about it, Riku and Kairi would have said that Sora seemed a little off. Almost like his attacks weren't aimed at Mike himself, but someone else standing extremely close to the guy. But they didn't put much thought into it. Nor did they notice the surprised looks on the faces of the other Renegades. They were too busy groaning about their own upcoming matches.

Riku had developed a bit of a phobia of Issac. The maniac had shot him when they first met after all, and that first impression was a bit of a doozy. That phobia was probably why Riku lost his match against the gun-crazed nutjob.

Kairi had a better time. She'd fought Christi before, so she'd had the chance to learn her fighting style and try to counter it. It didn't work for the most part, but in the end she was the only keyblade wielder who won a match that day.

After that match, they all decided to go home and get ready for the party. They were all walking back when something caught Naoki's eye. She just stood there, staring at the thing for a while.

Kairi noticed that Naoki was staring at a tree. Wondering what was so special about this tree, when she realized that it was the Paupu tree. Being from another world, it was quite possible that she'd never seen anything like the star shaped fruit. She walked right up to the girl.

"It's called the paupu tree." She explained. Naoki jumped in surprise. "Sorry."

"No, don't worry about it." Naoki told her. "I was just wrapped up in my own thoughts is all."

"What were you thinking about?" Naoki thought about it for a second before responding.

"That fruit growing on the tree." She admitted. "It's got an unusual shape to it. I have a fascination with genetics and was just wondering how it's DNA constructed it like that." She looked to Kairi. "It's not sacred or something to the people here right? I was hoping to examine it, but I'll leave it be if it's important to your home."

"Nah, the only thing unusual about the Paupu fruit is this little legend. Supposedly, if you share a Paupu with someone, you'll both have your fates intertwined for the rest of your lives." Naoki smiled at the thought.

"Sounds like something that lovers and close friends would find appealing."

"Yeah..." Naoki went to grab one of the fruits and Kairi continued on her way. Naoki looked back at the girl with a giant smile on her face. The real reason for her interest in the star-shaped fruit wasn't really it's DNA. Well, maybe that did have a little to do with it, but the main reason was because it had reminded her of that carving back in the cave. The one where Sora and Kairi were exchanging star-shaped objects.

She'd had her suspicions after hearing their story from the king and from the way they'd acted around one another, but only now was she certain that the two teens were in love. Maybe they didn't entirely realize it yet, but if that was the case she'd do her part in moving things along between the two. She was determined that the two would start dating before the end of training.

She climbed up the tree and grabbed one of the fruits. She stared at it for a while. It was so strange to her, but to the people of this island it wasn't strange, but an accepted part of their culture. She began to wonder what the other worlds they would be encountering would be like.

Would they all have the same beautiful starry night sky? Would they all share the same language? What if they encountered a whole world of Alpha Prototypes like her, Christi, and Mike? If they ever did, would they be accepted for who they were like they all so desperately wanted to be? Eventually, she managed to push those thoughts from her head. She'd hopefully find answers someday, but wondering like she was right now was entirely pointless and depressing. Right now she had to enlist her best friend to help her with Sora and Kairi.

Still holding onto the Paupu fruit, Naoki jumped down off the tree. She hit the ground running and she didn't stop until she almost ran over Christi in her excitement.

"Whoa!" The older girl jumped in surprise as her friend charged at her. "You're certainly happy." Christi noticed the big smile on Naoki's face. In front of them, Mike and Issac looked at the two with a little concern.

"Hey, come over here for a sec, there's something I want to tell you!" Naoki told her and practically dragged Christi away from the rest of the group.

"What do you think's gotten into her?" Issac wondered.

"Probably figured out Kairi and Sora have a thing for each other and now she wants to play matchmaker... again." Mike replied with an obviously upset look. "I'll bet you ten bucks things don't work like she plans." He continued on his way, followed by Issac.

"Wait, how do you know those two like each other?" Issac asked. Mike looked to his cousin with surprise.

"You forget what I can do?" He chuckled. "I did more than just mess with his mind during our spar."

"I knew it." Issac muttered. "Didn't think you liked to use your powers like that." Mike laughed.

"Normally, no I don't. But that kid's better than I thought. He's got more talent than you did when you were his age!" Isssac was annoyed by that.

"That had better be a joke!" Mike laughed even harder.

"I almost wish it was! Our family's had a warrior tradition dating back to the Roman Empire, with you being the best soldier in our recorded history, but that kid... He's interesting." Issac shivered at the twisted, evil grin on Mike's face, and the sudden light glow of his crimson eyes.

"Dude, I think **it** might be leaking out." Mike shook his head. The glow of his eyes vanished.

"Thanks, I lost control of it for a second." He frowned. "Look, last night we said some things I think we both regret." He held out his hand. "Forgive and forget?" Issac was stunned. "You've always been close to our supporters. I think they only trusted my words because you backed them up. I shouldn't have made it seem that my rival was more important to me than they were." Issac nodded and shook Mike's hand.

"Forgiven. Now let's go set things up for the party."

"Nah, things have already been set up. we both know the girls are gonna hog the machine all night so if you want to have a turn then now's the time. We actually just need to let Sora and Riku in on the plan before we get going." Issac laughed.

"I never thought you'd do that, man!" Mike chuckled.

"There's a lot of things I'll end up doing that I've sworn to never do." He said grimly. He looked up at the darkening sky in time to see a star go out. Signaling the end of yet another world. 'How many will die before this war ends?' He wondered. 'That's the third world lost since we got here, and we haven't even joined the fight yet!'

* * *

At around six, Mike, Issac, Sora, and Riku were at the Renegade's house and ready to start the party. Deciding that Mike should be the one to start, the others sat down while Mike grabbed a mic and music started to play.

(Song is "The outside" by Red.)

What if I'm not the same?  
What if I never let go of the blame?  
What if you drag me back again?  
What if I won't let you just pretend

I erase this memory  
I escape this gravity  
Is that how I used to be?  
Is that the price of my identity?

I'm standing on the outside  
I'm looking in on what you can't hide  
I'm dying on the inside  
'Cause now I can see your lies from the outside

What if I'm still ashamed?  
What if I can't let go of the pain?  
What if I have something to lose?  
What if I've got nothing left to prove?

I replace this life you stole  
I embrace the world I know  
What if you were always wrong?  
What if I said I knew it all along?

I'm standing on the outside  
I'm looking in on what you can't hide  
I'm dying on the inside  
'Cause now I can see your lies from the outside

I'm not you  
I will never be you  
I won't let you pull me through

I'm standing on the outside  
I'm looking in on what you can't hide  
I'm dying on the inside  
'Cause now I can see your lies from the outside

I'm standing on the outside  
I'm looking in on what you can't hide  
I'm dying on the inside  
'Cause now I can see your lies from the outside

(Picked the song for no particular reason. I spent almost a month trying to figure out what he'd sing. Soon after I heard this song i was just like "Screw it!" and decided to use this one.)

* * *

Meanwhile, at Kairi's house, Kairi was dealing with two unexpected guests. Does the narrator need to tell you who they were?

"So what are you two doing here?" Kairi asked Naoki and Christi. "I was getting ready for the party and you two suddenly show up at my door!"

"Yeah! why are we here Naoki? I was certain the guys were onto our plan to use the kareoke machine all night and wanted to show up early when you dragged me here!" Christi demanded. Naoki laughed nervously with the two girls glaring at her.

All three of them were dressed for the party. Naoki wore her usual casual outfit, consisting of a light green shirt with a traditional Japanese flower portrait design and a pair of jeans. Christi wore a light blue dress that came down to her knees. And Kairi just wore her usual outfit.

"I, uh, wanted to give Kairi some help with Sora?" She replied. Kairi blushed, and Christi stood up to leave.

"I'm not getting involved with you and one of your frustrating attempts to play matchmaker! Just let them be, Naoki!" Naoki grabbed her friend, trying to keep her from leaving.

"Please don't go! You're the only one here whose actually been on a date!"

"And you tricked me into that one! Whenever you try to help with a relationship things always end up going horribly wrong! Give it a rest for once in your life!"

"Never!" The two eventually started fighting one another.

"I'm so glad my parents were out tonight." Kairi said to herself as the other two girls continued shouting at one another.

* * *

About an hour later, the girls had calmed down. (And by calmed down, I mean that Christi had pinned Naoki to the ground and convinced her to drop it or she'd break her arm.) And the three of them were on the beach, walking to the party. High above them, Hex smiled.

"Go now! Attack!" She ordered. The Raider moved in for the kill at incredible speed. Above the noise of the craft's engines, the sounds of the Dark Eldar aboard laughing could be plainly heard. They'd put this off for so long, now they were going to enjoy it.

"Sorry about Naoki." Christi said to Kairi. "She can be a little nuts when it comes to some things." To her right, Naoki pouted.

"No, don't worry about it." Kairi responded. "But could you possibly not mention anything to the others about..."

"What?" Asked christi, whose eyes widened when she realized. "You do like Sora!? Holy crap! Naoki was right for once!" Kairi blushed again. "Don't worry!" Christi said with a big smile on her face. "I won't say anything to the boys! Take things at your own pace, let him know how you feel when you're ready. My advice is to just come right out and tell him, boys don't really notice hints too well."

"You guys hear that?" Naoki suddenly asked. Fear laced her voice.

"No, but then again not all of us have the ears of a freakin wolf!" Cristi replied. "What do you hear?" She turned to Naoki to see the girl trembling with fear. She hadn't trembled like that since the day she first met the Renegades. That day, her entire world had fallen apart.

"Laughter. Evil and cruel laughter."

"Take cover!" Christi shouted. The trio ran for the cover of the trees near the beach, only to have their retreat cut off by a pale female creature that seemed to have emerged from thin air. Her razor fangs glistening in the pale moonlight. Her armor barely covered much of her body, and in her hands were a small pistol-looking weapon and a cruel whip that spat electricity.

"You're mine!" The creature yelled, pointing her pistol at Naoki and pulling the trigger. A stream of small crystals shot from the weapon and barely missed their target, who had managed to dodge the shot thanks to her insane reflexes.

"Who are you?" Christi shouted. Putting herself between Kairi and the mysterious woman.

"That's not your concern, my pet, what you should know is that you are dead!" She raised her arm to swing her whip, only to have a knife impale her shoulder. "Gah!" The woman cried. "You'll pay for that!" She shouted at christi, who now held a knife in one hand and drew a fresh one from a hidden pocket in her dress.

"I don't think so. Naoki!" The girl behind her nodded and ran as fast as her altered DNA would allow her towards the other Renegades and keblade wielders.

"Go ahead, call on your friends for aid. You'll still die before they can help you." Hex said with a sadistic smile.

"Kairi, stay behind me, this... thing is too dangerous for you to fight right now."

"But I can still fight!" The keyblade wielder protested.

"Fight her and you'll die!" Christi barked. "I'm an Alpha Prototype, my power is that I can sense how good or evil someone is when I see them and this... monster the worst thing I've ever laid eyes on!"

"You're too kind. Flattery won't spare your life though." Hex replied as she tore the knife out of her shoulder and lunged at Christi, who dodged the whip and tossed another knife at Hex's face. Only to have it sink into a tree behind her.

"That trick of yours won't work again!" She shouted. To christi's amazement, Hex was to her left. Having dodged the knife and manuvered herself with such speed that even Naoki couldn't hope to match.

"Fear the Kabal of the black blades and the Wych cult of the bleeding Rose!" She screamed as she attacked with her whip again with such speed that Christi didn't stand a chance of dodging. She didn't need to. The Whip wrapped itself around Kairi's keyblade. She'd summoned it just in time to stop the attack.

"I told you to stay back!" Christi shouted.

"And I told you I can fight!" Kairi countered. A sudden twist of Hex's wrist tore the keyblade out of Kairi's hands and sent it flying into the distance.

"And now you die!" The Eldar screamed with delight as she attacked with her whip. Kairi's blade reappeared in her hands and the whip wrapped around it, much to Hex's surprise.

"Interesting..." She muttered, proving that she knew how to say more than "Die!"

"Keep your eyes on your enemies, bitch!" Christi shouted, launching a few more knives at Hex, and cursed when she dodged them like a pro. Hex knocked Kairi's blade out of her hands again and backed away.

"I wouldn't be giving me advice on how to fight, toy." She purred.

"We can't take her down alone." Kairi said to Christi.

"I know, I guess we'll have to work together to take her down." The knife wielding Renegade answered. "Go!" She shouted. She and Kairi charged at Hex, weapons at the ready.

* * *

The boys were completely startled when Naoki smashed the door open. Out of breath, clothes torn, and a few eeriely glowing crystals stuck in her body. She shuddered with pain and collapsed on the ground.

"Issac!" Mike shouted with a sudden voice of authority. From the direction of the maniac, a rifle flew towards the Renegade as he rushed to his wounded comrade's side. He caught the gun without looking, and got to work examining Naoki's injuries. "Dammit girl, what did you do this time?" He muttered under his breath.

"Is she going to be okay?" Asked Sora, shaking with shock and fear. Wondering what did this to her on his own home world.

"No idea." Mike replied. His frustration and worry sharpening his voice. "Naoki's always been the best with medical situations." He tore the poisoned crystals out as Naoki suffered wave after wave of intense pain from the poison. She hadn't been shot by enough to trigger the intense seizure, but even one crystal was often enough to trigger immense pain.

"We were... attacked." She managed to breath out between the waves of agony. "The... others!" Mike's eyes widened in horror. His people were under attack and he was here partying!

"The girls are being attacked!" He declared. "Sora! Stay here with Naoki, everyone else-" He was cut off by the loud, fammiliar "crack" of a gun being fired. Splinter crystals poured themselves at the doorway and windows of the house.

"Take cover!" Issac yelled over the chaos and practically slammed himself into the wall next to the closest window. Returning fire with a rifle that nobody had noticed prior. A scream of pain suggested his aim was as good as ever. Even in the dark.

Mike and Riku dragged Naoki to cover while Sora continuously cast reflect on them, sending the splinter rounds back at those who had fired them.

"Fucking assholes." Mike cursed in frustration once Naoki was safely hidden. He too slammed himself into the wall next to the door. Firing off a few rounds from his rifle, he heard something scream in pain. He could feel his blood boiling with anger, the sheer fury of what these things had done to his friends. He wanted to just rush outside and kill them all for messing with them. He didn't dare do that. If he did, he'd lose it, lose control of himself and butcher everything that came across him. He didn't even notice as the air around him began to spark, and his crimson irises began to glow a bright red.

"Mike?" Sora asked, wondering what he should fear more, the things firing at them, or his teacher.

"Sora, take Riku around the back and try to flank them. Issac and I will keep their attention." The Renegade ordered as a splinter crystal missed him by a mere inch. Sora nodded and hastily ran to Riku and explained the plan while Mike glared out into the darkness, firing round after round at half-seen shadows.

* * *

"Fire!" Kairi shouted. A massive fireball shot out of the tip of her keyblade after Hex, only for the Succubus to sidestep it and rush at the aspiring mage.

"Got any more of those?" Christi asked.

"No, I'm out of magic." Kairi replied.

"Oh well, just means I'll have to do a little more work to buy some time." She threw a knife, Hex gave up her charge to dodge it. Christi drew another knife. "Well, I'm out of spare knives."

"What do we do now?"

"Fight tooth and nail for our lives." Christi replied calmly. The feroucious look in her eyes almost scared Kairi. Would she end up looking like that by the end of the war?

Hex was upon them before they could say anymore. Kairi swung at her in vain. The Succubus simply rolled under the swing, got behind her and delivered a swift kick to the redhead's back. Christi stabbed, only to miss and have her leg caught by the whip and tripped. She hit the ground, losing her grip on the knives. Looking up at Hex, her blood went cold from the sick, twisted smile on her face as she was about to press the button on the whip. Kairi hacked at her arm in time to save her comrade. Hex dropped the whip to evade the blow.

Armed with nothing but a pistol now, and fighting two opponents, Hex had to admit to herself that she was a little outmatched. Until her Wych hidden in the woods jumped out. The barbed net in one hand, and a spear in the other. The Wych tossed the net at an unexpecting Kairi, who was tangled up in it and fell to the ground. Losing her blade in the process.

"Kairi!" Christi yelled in alarm. Struggling to unwrap the whip around her leg, she couldn't do anything to help the keyblade wielder. The wych had a lustful smile on his face as he gazed upon Kairi. Whether it was bloodlust, or not, no one could say since they were all a little preoccupied. He raised the spear over his head, preparing to stab Kairi through the net. Kairi closed her eyes in focus, and her keyblade re-appeared in her hand. Stabbing through the Wych's chest in the process. It vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving a bleeding keyhole shaped hole in the Wych's chest. The Eldar collapsed to the ground without a noise. Dead before he hit the ground.

Hex looked on in surprised shock, but kept her distance from Kairi, who was still trapped in the net. the girl couldn't try to untangle herself, for the barbs would just tear at her flesh, possibly even kill her.

"Looks like it's just you and me now." Hex said to christi. She tossed away her splinter pistol and picked up a pair of Christi's knives off the ground. Christi finally managed to untangle her leg and grab her two knives. They stood there, glaring at each other. On one end, a life of bloodletting and torture, on the other, a life of desperate gambles. They knew it then, they knew that only one of them was going to walk away alive from that beach.

With a bloodcurdling battle cry, they charged at one another.

* * *

Mike was getting pissed. No matter how fast he tried to put down these guys, every shot he fired seemed to miss them. Since the fight began, maybe three of those bastards had been killed so far. He so desperately wanted to finish this, and help Kairi and Christi.

"Arggh!" Issac screamed in pain nearby.

"Issac!" Mike rushed over to his cousin. He had a few crystals stuck in his chest... right through the Kevlar vest he always wore under his clothes.

"My god, these things go through fucking Kevlar?!" He yelled in shock. He was surprised when a second pair of hands pulled out some of the crystals.

"I guess that means armor is nothing more than dead weight eh?" Naoki said next to him.

"You're okay?" Mike asked in amazement. Just a few minutes ago, she'd been writhing in agony on the ground.

"Yeah, took me a while to come up with an antidote for the poisons in these crystals." She explained.

"They're poisoned?"

"Yeah, enough of the poison will trigger a massively powerful seizure that will rip your limbs off, any other amount will just cause intense pain." She placed her hand on Issac's forehead. "I'll heal him. Get out there and kill those bastards for me." Mike grinned.

"With pleasure." He drew his wakizashi and ran outside. More splinter crystals flew at him, only to somehow miss. He blinked, and his eyes seemed to spark with energy. He could see them now.

He could see the humanoid figures hiding amongst the trees, their bodies outlined by an aura of electricity. He ran up to an unfortunate Eldar. Blade at the ready, and thirsting for the blood of his enemies. "Die!" He screamed and ran the blade through the skull of the alien before it even had the chance to scream. It's head falling in two pieces. Blood shot from the wound like a fountain, drenching everything close to the dead Eldar.

_God, that felt so good_. he thought. He was losing himself, he knew it, but he also didn't care. These bastards would never again get between him and those he'd sworn to protect so long ago.

"Whoa." Riku said in amazement. Snapping Mike out of his thoughts. The teen was just a few trees away. How had he not seen him? He knew. He was so caught up in the kill that he didn't care about anything else.

"Where's Sora?" He asked the silver-haired teenager.

"He's on the other side of the building." Riku replied. "He saw one of these guys and took off after him." He kicked the dead body. "Any idea what these things are?"

"They're not heartless?" Mike asked, confused.

"Not any that I've seen. The heartless tend to have a symbol on their chests, a sort of sewn up keyhole. You'll know it when you see it."

"Already have." He reminded. "But only in the battle for my home world. I thought this might have been some variant I haven't seen yet."

"I don't think-" Riku was cut off by a sudden burst of splinter crystals just behind him. The boy fell to the ground, several crystals in his back.

"Riku!" Mike cried. He quickly decapitated the Wych that had shot his student before turning back to the wounded boy... who had started to shake... the seizure was starting. "Shit! Naoki, we need a medic over here!

"Gah!" Sora's pained voice rang out. Mike didn't waste any time. Riku was shaking rather violently now, but there was nothing more he could do for the boy. Looking around, he saw Sora clutching his eyes, with another wych holding a pistol to his head.

With a flick of the wrist, the beheaded wych's pistol flew into Mike's hand and he pulled the trigger. the poisonous crystals struck home. within seconds, the wych was on the ground. Mike spat at the gun in his hand with disgust.

"No living creature has to die like that." He decided.

"What happened?" Naoki demanded to know when she arrived. She looked down at Riku and got the answer to her question.

"Get to work on him and Sora. I'll go take care of Christi and Kairi." He ordered. She'd already started working on delivering her antidote to Riku.

"You're gonna leave us here with the unfinished business?"

"Just killed the last of them."

"How can you tell?"

"I can see them."

"Right, didn't notice your eyes. That extra sense of sight you have is quite enviable at times." He didn't hear her. He was already gone.

* * *

Christi was in the middle of the hardest fight of her life. And she hoped that her opponent was feeling the same. Both combatants were cut and bruised over their entire bodies. Christi more so, as Hex's speed and godly reflexes gave her a clear advantage. Also, Christi was starting to get tired, whereas Hex didn't show any signs of slowing down. The longer this went on, the more likely that Christi was going to mess up somehow and get killed.

"Where are those guys?" She wondered. "They should have been here by now!" She took a few steps away from Hex, trying to buy a few seconds so she could catch her breath. But the Eldar refused to give it to her. A spinning kick to the face knocked the Renegade to the ground.

"I'm going to enjoy this..." Hex told her. Christi couldn't move, she'd had the wind knocked out of her when she hit the ground. Despite all the adrenaline in her body, she found herself unable to move as Hex dropped her knives. The Eldar picked up her whip.

"The others will kill you if you so much as touch me!" Christi managed to breathe out.

"You mean those friends of yours that my men are dealing with at the moment?" Hex replied. With a "Crack!" Her whip wrapped itself tightly around Christi's neck. The young woman clawed at it. it was choking her.

"You mean those pathetic guys that I already took out?" An enraged voice behind Hex asked. "They might have taken a few of us out if Naoki hadn't been around." Hex spun around to find Mike behind her. "I will say this only once, release the girl or I'll kill you." Hex looked to Christi. The girl was still trying to claw her way out of the whip's grasp. But there was a look of hope on her face. She knew that the cavalry had arrived just in time to help. Or so she thought.

"How about no?" Hex purred. She pressed the button on her agonizer. Sending a jolt of electricity into the girl's body. What happened next couldn't be described as a scream of agony. Christi howled with the voice of a banshee in sheer pain. It was a soul-searing pain that couldn't be described that shot through her body. Her entire world had become agony. Every nerve in her body began to burn themselves out from the pain. This was why the whip was known as an agonizer. It's victims died such horribly painful deaths that their last few seconds of life were nothing but pain.

Mike could only stand there in horror as he watched one of his closest friends writhe on the ground, screaming at a volume that he didn't think was humanly possible. It lasted only a few seconds. But those few seconds had been permanently seared into his memory.

"Christi!" He shouted as he ran to the girl's side. Hex grabbed one of the girl's knives off the ground. As he passed her, she tried to stab him, only to be hit by a force of such magnitude that it sent her flying. She landed hard on the sand, a good twenty feet from where she had stood.

"What just happened?" She wondered aloud. Getting up, she saw Mike untangle Christi, who was barely breathing. Her eyes still shut tightly from the pain going through her body. It was a beautiful expression to Hex. She smiled at her handiwork.

"C'mon Christi, wake up dammit!" Mike yelled at the girl who was now in his arms. He began to cry. He'd lost close friends before, but Christi had been with him since the start. He placed his hand on the girl's head, and the look of pain on her face began to fade. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't able to save you." Christi's breathing began to slow, and eventually stopped altogether. Mike gently laid her down in the sand. Tears in his eyes. Hex laughed behind him.

"She died in agony you know?" She chuckled. "The agonizer is famous across our city for causing the most deliciously painful deaths. It simply burns out it's victim's nervous system with a massive overload of pain."

"Shut up." Mike muttered. his voice rattling with barely contained rage.

"The girl's skull will make an excellent trophy after all this is over..." Hex continued regardless. "Of all the humans I've fought, she was one of the strongest. Even a Space Marine would have a hard time taking her down."

"I said, SHUT UP!" Mike screamed. He turned to face Hex, his wakizashi in hand, his crimson eyes glowing with such intensity that they were almost blindingly white, the air around him became a blue aura of crackling electricity. "You murdered her in the most painful way possible, so now I'll return the favor!" His sword began to spark with electricity. "I'm known as the most powerful of the known Alpha Prototypes for a reason. I have the power to control electricity, and now you will know my fury!" He lunged at her with blinding speed, so fast that he matched the Succubus in that aspect.

"We'll just see how powerful you really are." Hex spoke, preparing herself for the greatest enemy she knew she'd ever encounter.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay?" Naoki asked Sora, who was running alongside her as they followed Mike's trail. The others were left behind to recover from their wounds. The lingering poison in their system incapacitating them.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Sora answered. "That wierd gun shot some sort of beam out of it, completely unlike the others. The shot missed, but just seeing the beam caused my eyes to feel like they were on fire! The pain wore off a while ago."

"Okay, I get it. Now let's get..." Naoki was cut off by the sound of Christi's soul-scarring scream. Both of them stood there in shock. Never before had either of them heard something like that.

"Let's go!" Sora shouted. Surging on ahead of the girl. Naoki just fell to her knees, tears began to fall from her eyes. She knew. She knew that Christi must have just died. Nothing else could explain that horrible sound or the intense feeling of dread that gripped her heart and refused to let go. Right then and there, she broke down and cried. Mourning the loss of her best friend.

Sora didn't even notice that Naoki stayed behind. His body screamed at him to move. Something had gone horribly wrong, but he'd do his best to help in whatever way he could. Eventually, he reached the beach. What he saw there made his blood run cold. Christi lay completely still in the sand, she wasn't breathing. Near the body of the Renegade, Kairi lay trapped under a net. Her skin and clothes torn in some areas where the barbs had cut her. A look of sheer terror etched on her face.

"Kairi!" Sora called out to his friend. He immediately ran to her side and pulled the net off of her without the barbs cutting her as best he could. Completely ignoring the pain when the sharp spikes on the net pierced his hands. As soon as she was freed from the net, Kairi latched onto Sora. She was trembling with fear. Severely traumatized by the violent and painful death of her new friend.

"Sora," She softly spoke, fearfully. "behind you." Looking over his shoulder, Sora saw Hex and Mike's duel.

Mike's face was twisted by rage, almost giving off the appearance of some kind of beast. Hex on the other hand, wore an expression of immense pleasure. The thrill of the fight and the euphoria of her recent kill flooding her senses. She'd lost her agonizer earlier in the fight, and now used two of Christi's knives. Adding insult to Mike's emotional injury.

Sora could only watch in awe as the two went at it. Both of them moved so fast that their attacks were blurs to him, the sparks of electricity reflecting beutifully off the metal of the combatant' blades. It was an amazing sight, but also one of the most terrifying things Sora had ever seen.

* * *

Mike swung at Hex's throat, hoping to slice it open before she could react. Unfortunately, she simply cartwheeled out of the way just in time to avoid his attack. She picked up one of Christi's knives that lay on the ground and tossed it at the red-eyed man in front of her. It merely bounced away and landed in the sand.

"All things that have mass give off an electromagnetic aura." Mike explained. His voice sounding more like a dark growl with every word. "Thanks to my power, I can move those objects, giving me a weak telekinetic ability." Hex never stopped smiling. He began to wonder if she was too high off of her kill to hear him. With a leap, Hex jumped right over his head, doing a front flip in the air. When she was directly above him, she was upside down. she threw one of the knives at his neck, only for it to be deflected by the man's telekinetic ability again.

"I guess you were telling me the truth." She giggled when she landed. "What else can you do?"

"This." The man growled. Closing his eyes in focus for a split second, and snapping them open as Hex attempted to stab him in the back during his concentration. Her arm jerked back suddenly. It had been hit by some force that was almost strong enough to break it. She backed off. noticing Mike's open palm where her blade had just been about to pierce his skin. He'd fired off a massive pulse of energy from that hand just as she'd been about to kill him.

"Don't be so hasty now." He chuckled. "I was going to show you one of my best, but you forced me show you "Pulse" instead." Hex's smile grew. The last time she'd been in a fight against such a powerful being was nearly fifty years ago. But she suspected that this one was far more powerful than that one. The two stood there for a few seconds, staring at each other.

Mike made the first move. With lightning speed, he attacked Hex. His sword, sparking with electricity, came down at her head. She managed to move out of the way in time to avoid the attack, but the very tip of the sword scratched her chin. Drawing a small amount of blood. She jumped back a few feet and began to laugh.

"Hahaha! Is this all you can do Michael Bays?" She taunted. "I expected more from you!" Mike just glared at her. "If the king thought you were able to teach those brats how to survive, then I so wish to see his face when he learns of their fates!"

"Oh, just shut up!" A voice from behind her yelled. Even with all her centuries of experience surviving the arenas of the wych cults with just her luck and skill, Hex didn't have the reflexes to evade the sudden sword in her side. All she could do was roll with the attack, so it wouldn't cut her in half and only created a massive gash in her left side. Hitting the sand, Hex looked up at her attacker, who now held his sword to her, and looked between him and Mike with disbelief.

"Impossible!" She declared. "How can there be two of you?!" The Michael Bays standing over her smiled. The one she had just been gloating to crumbled away to nothing.

"What are you talking about? There's only one of me!" Now it was his turn to laugh. "Not that your brain can tell! I'm a master of illusions after all! My electricity enters your body and I can hijack your brain at will!" The man's evil grin returned. "You see what I want you to see! your senses tell you only what **I **want them to tell you! Every little thing your brain controls, I now control! Speaking of which!" He slammed his hand into Hex's face, smashing her head on the ground. The Eldar screamed under Mike's hand as he began to tear her very mind apart.

Images from her past flashed through her mind. Her childhood as an orphan on the streets, her first kill in the wych arenas, the first time she met Hespol. every memory in her brain flashed through her mind withing a matter of seconds.

"So that's it." Mike removed his hand from Hex's face. Whatever he had done to her left her exhausted, barely able to move.

"What did you do to me?" She gasped out. She managed to press a button hidden under one of her bracers. Now all she had to do was wait.

"I saw your memories. Every little twisted thing you've ever done." He spat at her. "You murdered countless innocents in your wych cult arenas. Sometimes you even forced them to fight each other to death. The winner earning the right to be sent to the haemunculi."

"Is that all you saw?" She chuckled, until Mike kicked her in the ribs.

"No, that's not all. I saw your darkest secret." Hex's eyes widened with horror.

"Y-you don't mean..."

"You fell in love with Archon Hespol." The alpha prototype snarled. "such a thing would only get you killed in your society. You knew it, but you couldn't hep it. You followed his every order, hoping that one day he would notice you." A deep growl eminated from deep in Mike's throat. "You fell in love with the monster who ordered you to capture my students and kill the Renegades. And you did kill one." He lowered his sword so it rested just over her neck. "Just know that I'll soon send him to join you in hell. Oh, yeah, you don't go to hell. You go somewhere worse. In that case, I hope Slanesh decides to gnaw on your soul." He raised his sword, intending to separate her head from her shoulders with a single swing.

"Hex!" Something called out. MIke looked in it's direction to see the Dark Eldar Raider speeding at him. One of Hex's wyches manning the massive gun at the bow of the skiff.

"Shit." He cursed as the weapon fired a black beam. The shot barely missed him by centimeters, but his eyes felt like they were on fire. The image of the dark beam had seared itself into his retinas. He fell to the ground and cried out in pain. The raider quickly passed overhead. Two wyches jumping from the skiff to the side of their leader.

"Are you alright?" One of them asked as she helped the injured Succubus to her feet.

"I'm fine!" Hex snarled, glaring at Mike. Nobody had ever discovered her secret feelings for Hespol. The only way he could have found out was if he truly did see her memories. A man like that was far too dangerous to let live. He had to die. "Kill him." Hex ordered. The raider came down, hovering close to the ground while Hex got aboard.

"With pleasure." One of the wyches sighed as she could practically taste the pain he was in right now. She leveled a splinter pistol at his head. Before she could pull the trigger however, Her victim got to his feet and lunged at her face with his hand. The stunned Eldar didn't have the chance to avoid him. He grabbed her face, and she began to scream, her body twitched and spasmed as electricity poured into her body. Steam rose from her eyes as the began to boil. A second later, they exploded in her skull.

"Holy-" The second wych suddenly screeched in agony. Both her arms fell to the floor with a single flash of Mike's sword. She was silenced by a quick jab to the throat. Both wyches had died in less than five seconds.

"Get us out of here!" Hex ordered the Raider's pilot, and the ship flew off with incredible speed. The alpha Prototype stood there for a few seconds, watching the vehicle leave. He closed his eyes, and raised his arms.

"Sixty percent!" He growled. His face was strained by the intense concentration he needed to do this.

The raider quickly did a U-turn back toward the beach. THe pilot and Hex yelled at each other, trying desperately to find out what was happening. A short distance from the beach, the raider spun out of control. The pilot and Hex were both thrown out violently before the skiff smashed into the sand.

Hex shook her head in an attempt to make the world stop spinning.

"What in hell just happened?!" she roared at the pilot. Not knowing that he had been thrown into a tree and was now dead, impaled on one of it's branches. She tried to get up, but one of her legs had been broken when she hit the ground. She wasn't going anywhere.

Not very far ahead of her, Mike started walking slowly in her direction. A twisted smile on his face. He stopped about ten feet away from where she lay. With a simple gesture of his hand, she levitated off the ground and floated toward him.

Looking into the eyes of the creature before her, she could tell that this wasn't what she had been fighting. This was something completely different. Something even more terrifying. She stopped moving about two feet away from him.

"What are you?" She asked. He voice full of fear. The creature before her smirked.

"I'm a nightmare." He stated simply. With a single flash of movement, his sword severed her neck. Her decapitated head fell at his feet. He stomped on it. Shattering it, and splattering bits of brain and bone across the beach. The sick smile never left his face. He ran through a few short stretches.

"Did my host really have such trouble with these pathetic little creatures?" He said. "Not that I'm complaining. I rarely have the chance to get out, stretch me legs and kill something these days."

"Mike?" Sora asked. The creature in front of them just now noticed them.

"Oh, so you must know my host." He said. This monster slowly walked over to them. "Hehe. I'll bet that he never told you about me." He chuckled to himself. "The boy never does. It's pretty hurtful actually. I saved his life more than a few times and taught him how to use his powers, yet when he meets someone, he neglects to introduce them to me. The thankless little ingrate should learn some manners." At this point he was just a few feet from the keybladers. At this distance, they could get a clear view of his eyes. They were glowing such a dark shade of red that they were almost black. He smiled when Sora shivered with fear at what he saw. "Don't ya agree?"

"Sora! Kairi! Fall back!" Issac's voice failed to snap them out of their paralyzing fear. Said soldier emerged from the woods behind them with a rifle in hand. "This thing is too dangerous for you two to handle!"

"Ah, so I see that Michael is still hanging around with his stupid cousin." The thing shook his head. "I keep telling him that you'll just end up getting him killed, but does he ever listen? nooooo." There was a loud bang from Issac's rifle. A rubber bullet flew through the air at the monster, only to stop just a few inches from it.

"Give me back my cousin, Beast." Issac glared at the thing, which sighed.

"Always the same with you Issac, always shoot first, ask questions, or in my case, make demands second." Issac fired off a few more rounds, wich also stopped just short of their target. "You bore me, just go die already." Without even blinking, the thing launched the bullets back at Issac. They hit with such force that Issac was sent flying into a tree. The German didn't get back up. The monster laughed. "All that training and he still dies so easily? He was even worse than I thought!"

"I think that he was so bad because it was actually me." Someone behind the thing said. It was Naoki She held a pistol to the back of his head.

"Of course it was you." The thing chuckled. "One of your clones that took on his appearance correct?"

"Look, I've had a bad day." Naoki snarled. "I lost my best friend. I'm not going to just let you take Mike from me too."

"Why?" The monster chuckled. "Why just you and not Issac as well?" Naoki stiffened. "Ah, that's it isn't it. You, just like your recently deceased friend, have feeling for my host don't you?" Naoki opened her mouth to speak but wasn't given the chance. "You do know that the person that your "friend" dated was your precious Michael? When they first met in fact. He was practically crawling over himself to ask her to see some movie with him."

"I know." She pulled the trigger. A rubber bullet slammed into the monster's skull and knocked him out. Immediately, she ran to Sora and Kairi. Both were severely traumatized from what they had just witnessed. "You shouldn't run on ahead without me Sora. C'mon, let's get you two inside. I have a feeling Issac and I are going to have a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

A/N:

So there we go! my longest chapter to date! By a longshot even! I swear it took me nearly two months to write this thing. Hope my efforts show!

Anyway, I have two reasons for killing off Christi. first, She was an experimental character. I had the idea for her as I was starting to come up with this story. I figured I'd just try her out for a bit. Second reason, I just wanted to show that even though I'm more comfortable working with my OCs and the Renegades are some of my favorite characters, they are not immune to being killed off.

On that note, I just want to let you all know that as the summary says, this is a very death filled story. The only person I guarantee will survive to the final battle is Sora. And that doesn't mean that he won't be taken prisoner and pretty much tortured into a broken version of his former self. Yeah, I'm evil sometimes :).

If it makes you feel better, almost every one of my favorite characters will be killed off. And not in quick painless ways either.

So, the next chapter will be the last one we see the Renegades in for a good while. Much to my releif. I love the guys, but I use them too much. Time to focus on the actual KH characters!


	6. a meeting of two generals

Sora, Riku, and Kairi sat in the living room of the Renegade's house. All of them were lost in their own thoughts.

Having witnessed Christi's death firsthand, Kairi was understandably a little shaken from the experience. She was barely acknowleging anyone who spoke to her and wasn't speaking.

Sora wasn't nearly as bad, but he was concerned about Kairi's condition. Every now and then he'd try to talk to her just to get her to open up. It wasn't working too well.

Riku was upset that he had been shot and taken out of the action long before anything interseting had happened. While he was concerned about his friends, he was too busy trying to figure out how he'd been ambushed so he could prevent it from happening again.

Their resident gunslinger maniac, Issac, had woken up a while ago. He asked a few questions as to what had happened. He was obviously upset when he learned about Christi's death, but for the most part he seemed to handle it pretty well. He left to go take care of the bodies before somebody stumbled upon the site. Last thing they needed right now was mass hysteria.

Naoki was busy taking care of Mike. When they'd entered the house, she'd quickly explained that Mike had been put in a bad situation and his best ability had backfired on him. She was in a rush, so she didn't have time to explain the details, but she promised to answer their questions as best she could when she was done working on him.

Speaking of which, said Alpha Prototype came down the stairs at that moment with a groan.

"Dammit, I hate it when that happens. Mike needs to learn how to use his power to it's fullest without that thing's help." She plopped herself down on the couch Riku was sitting on. Completely exausted from her ordeal. She frowned. "Why do I feel like I've forgotten something?" Looking up, she saw Riku's confused face. "I promised to explain things to you kids didn't I?" Riku nodded. "Kami dammit, just when I was hoping for a nap." She sat up, mumbling to herself. "So what do you want to know?"

"What were those things that attacked us?" Riku asked. "They weren't any kind of heartless or nobody that I know of." Naoki's face changed. She now looked rather interested.

"They weren't? We were kinda hoping that you would know what they were. We've never encountered anything like them before." She shook her head. "I'm too tired to think about that. To answer your question, I have no clue what those thngs were."

"Yeah, I asked Issac and he said the same thing."

"That makes sense, unless he came across them before I joined up he shouldn't know what they were. Anything else?"

"What exactly happened to Mike?" Sora asked. "It was almost like he became a different person." The boy shuddered at the memory of the look in his mentor's eyes when that thing took control. Naoki's face darkened.

"It's not something we like to talk about." She admitted. "You all know that Mike and I claim that we're not human right?" The three teens listening to her nodded. "Physically, we're the same as normal human, aside from our powers of cource. But what seperates us are our basic instincts. Alpha Prototypes used to be human at some point, but somehow, whether it be artificial or natural means, we become Alpha Prototypes. We still keep our human personalities, but depending on how potentially dangerous you are, you have powerful urges to just brutally murder anything you come across."

"Then, that thing..." Sora and Riku said as they started to put two and two together.

"Close." Naoki interupted, already knowing what they were thinking. "Mike is widely regarded as the most powerful Alpha Prototype ever identified. As such, his instincts are incredibly strong. Strong enough to manifest as a second personality that knows every little trick to their powers from the moment of it's birth. It was the thing that taught Mike how to use his power in the first place." Sora and Riku's eyes widened in shock as they realized how powerful this thing must be.

"Hang on, I remember Mike say something just before this... thing took control of his body. I couldn't make out what he said though."

"Sixty percent." Naoki stated to an immediately stunned Sora and Riku. "Mike can channel portions of this thing's instinctual knowledge of his powers. He rarely does so, only ten or so time since I've met him. The reason being that he runs the risk of losing control of his body like last night if he doesn't focus almost entirely on maintaining control. The more he tries to channel, the greater the risk."

"Just how powerful is this thing?" Riku wondered. Naoki thought about it or a second.

"Well, It's occasionally boasted that it has the power to end the world whenever it wants." The keyblade bearers paled at this. "But I personally doubt it. Yet I wouldn't be surprised. If it was strong enough, it could control the electomagnetic aura of the planet and throw it into the sun."

"Isn't there some way to get rid of it?!" Riku demanded. "Tere is no way in hell that I'd let something that could do that on my home world!"

"There is a way." Naoki calmly said, despite Riku's outburst. "Kill Mike." That seemed to bring the silver haired teen back to reality. "Kill one of the strongest people on our side. Would you be willing to do that to save your world from something it doesn't need saving from?" Naoki glared at him. her own eyes began to glow, signaling that some of her own killer instincts were starting to leak out.

"Mike has told us that the thing inside him is only concerned with killing people and staying alive. throwing the world into the sun is complete suicide no matter how powerful it may be. For the most part, Mike has taken up the role of trying to keep it contained. And has done so admirably." The pissed off girl stood up. "I'm going to bed." She turned back to Riku one last time. "Who's the bigger monster? The man who's stuck with a power that can end the world, or the humans who want him dead, despite the fact that he's a good person and has saved their lives?" With that, she went back upstairs to her room.

"I think you just pissed off the wrong girl Riku." Kairi said. Emerging from her shocked state. The boys on the other hand were wondering just what kind of people they were getting mixed up with.

* * *

Hespol chuckled as one of his servants went over one of the many many lists following his kabal's daring raid. In his left hand, he examined the black helmet of one of his victims in the battle. In his right, he held a chain connected to a collar around the neck of his new human girl "pet". Just for a laugh, he pressed a button on his bizare leash, sending a wave of agony over the girl.

"As for the casualties, we lost about two thousand of our warriors." The servant droned. His eyes hungrily locked on the girl, who was writhing on the ground. "Not counting the losses suffered by our allies in the cult of the Bleeding Rose."

"Is this what you do in your free time, Archon?" A new voice asked. Gaining the attention of said ruler. A dark portal opened up a few feet away from him, and a young man wearing one of the cloaks of the now extinct Organization that used to occupy their new base.

"What do you want, human?" Hespol demanded, setting aside the helmet and standing up from his throne. His spiked, black armor adding to his naturally intimidating presence.

"I just wanted to see how you were coming along with preperations for the attack on the Destiny Islands." The hooded man answered as if it was obvious. "Our lord has been getting impatient. He's become concerned that the keyblade wielders might move on before you launch your raid."

"Of cource you came at our lord's orders." The Eldar muttered. "You don't even take a shit without him saying so, Paulo, right?"

"Correct, my name is Paulo." The colaked General of darkness replied. "And yes, I came here on our lord's orders. I'd rather have nothing to do with you, but duty demands that I come here." Hespol snorted.

"Very well then. My warriors' thirst for blood has almost been sated for the moment. It will be some time before many of them feel the need to go hunting again."

"And how did you slake that thirst without a raid?" Paulo wondered. "And where did you get that helmet? From what you and our... big green friend have described, that's the helmet of a space marine. Correct me if I'm wrong, but they're not native to your city." Hespol glared at his fellow general.

"Just because our lord has given me an order doesn't mean that it becomes my priority. I had some other things to take care of." Under his hood, Paulo scowled. He swiftly drew a black machete hidden in his cloak with his left hand. Before any of the Eldar in the room could react, he'd cut through the chain on the girl's collar.

In a desperate bid to escape the clutches of her captors, the girl made a mad dash for the nearest window. She turned to her savior.

"The Emperor protects." She said with a sad smile and then jumped... thousands of feet to her death. Anything was preferable to being held prisoner by these aliens.

"You foul little mortal!" Hespol roared. Drawing a sword of his own, and swinging at Paulo. With a flash of light, a keyblade appeared in Paulo's right hand and blocked Hespol's sword. The Archon could only stare in wonder at the weapon. As far as he had known, only their lord and Pete were able to use keyblades.

"There's a reason why I'm the favorite." Paulo answered the question in the alien's eyes. He bashed away Hespol's wicked looking blade with his keyblade. "I'd rather not have used it. But Your huskblade would have sucked all the moisture out of my family heirloom and turned it to dust." The keyblade vanished as quickly as it came. The black machete disappeared back into the man's cloak. "I'll keep your little... detour, a secret from our lord so long as you launch your raid soon." Hespol growled.

"How long will it take for us to assemble a force of about two thousand?" He asked his confused servant.

"Um, about two weeks, lord Archon." He answered.

"Happy?" The alien growled at his fellow general.

"It's agreeable. You launch your attack in two weeks and I won't let our master know that you ignored his orders." Paulo snapped his fingers, and a portal of darkness enveloped him before disappearing. With the source of his aggitation gone, Hespol looked out the window his pet had jumped out of.

"Fetch me another plaything." He ordered. "This one seems to have broken."

* * *

Sora couldn't beleive the situation unfolding before him. Mike had just woken up barely ten minutes ago, the look in his eyes when he ran down the stairs was unmistakably a look of panic. The moment he saw the keyblade users he ordered them to take him to whoever the leader was on this world. That led to them taking him to Kairi's house to see her father. The other renegades seemed to ntice that something was up and followed along. That's when this all started.

"So, you're telling me that an army of aliens called Elder or something are going to attack the islands?" The mayor asked with clear annoyance.

"Dark Eldar." Mike clarified. The look on his face was still there. One could almost see all the thoughts flying through his head. "And yes, that's exactly what I'm saying is going to happen. I don't know when, and I don't know how many there will be. So we desperately need to start preparing to defend the island." The mayor sighed.

"You have any proof?" He asked.

"Your daughter and her friends were with me when we were ambushed by a scouting party." Mike said, nodding to Kairi, who stood nearby with everyone else. The girl was badly startled to say the least. She still remembered the look of pleasure on Hex's face when she murdered Christi. Now more monsters like her were going to show up? The redhead shakily nodded in agreement.

"It's true." She told her adopted father.

"Hell yeah it's true." Issac declared. "I was shot by those crystals their guns shot!"

"Can you show me the wound then?" The mayor asked. "You seem to be doing well for somebody who was shot last night." Issac faltered. His wound was gone, just like all the ones Naoki treats.

"Dammit." Mike thought. "This guy's got a brain, unlike most politicians I've come across, but right now, that brain is going to get his own people killed!"

"I thought so." The mayor said. "I don't know what drugs you may have taken last night, but this is just rediculous." He looked at Kairi with a look of disapointment. "I can't beleive that you'd go along with these people! I forbid you from being with them, they're obviously a bad influence."

"Isn't there some way we can convince you that we're telling the truth?" Mike almost pleaded.

"Not in the slightest. Now get out of my house!" Mike looked to Issac.

"Where are the bodies?" Issac sadly shook his head.

"I got a little out of hand with the gasoline when I burned them." He admitted shamefully. Mike's eyes went wide.

"Christi..." Issac cut him off.

"She's... in her room." Mike sadly nodded.

"We lost one of our friends in the fighting last night." He informed the mayor. "She died when her nervous system fried itself with the pain."

"I'm sorry about your friend, but she clearly died of an overdose of whatever you were using last night. Using her death to try to fool me is just shameful." Mike clenched his fist in anger.

"I really didn't want to do this." He stood up, glaring at the elder man. "I hoped I could convince you without it. It's pretty mind scarring. But after saying that I'm shaming Christi's memory... then you can go through hell for all I care." In the blink of an eye, Mike's hand gripped the elder man's head. His victim screamed as electricity poured out of the crimson eyed teen and into his head.

"Dad!" Kairi screamed, summoning her keyblade and preparing to swing it at the man attacking her father. The other keybladers also summoned their weapons. "Let him go!" they demanded. A sudden sharp pain shot through the redhead's arm. Issac had it twisted behind her back.

"Whoa, let's not do anything hasty now." The soldier advised. The boys were about to attack, when Naoki took out Riku with a kick to his kneecap, and Sora went down to a swift jab to his ribs.

"You bitch!" Riku hissed in pain.

"Takes one to know one I guess." Naoki shrugged in response. "The old man really should have listened to us." She sighed.

Mike released the man, who collapsed to the ground. His eyes wide with shock and fear.

"W-w-what are you?" He painfully gasped out. Mike's glowing red eyes looked down on the man.

"That doesn't matter right now, might not have the time to explain it anyway. The point is, I just gave to you a copy of what I stole from them last night: The memories of their leader." He crouched down and looked directly into the mayor's terrified eyes. "Now do you believe me?" The older man shuddered. The leader of the Renegades stood up straight and looked to Kairi.

"What did you do to him?!" She yelled, as he thought she would.

"Exactly what I said I did." He stated simply. "Keep an eye on him for the next few days. Gaining a few centuries worth of memories in a few seconds can be a little... disorienting. Issac!"

"Yeah?" The soldier asked, letting go of Kairi. The girl raced to the side of her father.

"You're in charge of training the locals how to use guns. Nobody thirteen or older is excused for any reason."

"So I get to teach kids how to blow shit up, eh?" The man's maniac smile made it's way onto his face. "Awesome."

"What about me?" Naoki asked. Ignoring the injured and groaning boys at her feet.

"Put together a map of the area. I want notes of where key defensive positions are located. And also heal the kids. Their training is going to get a lot rougher."

* * *

The Decapitator scuttled about the wall in his lair, deep into the dark city. In one of his hands, he held a human skull. The skull of his most recent victim to be exact. Far below him lay the peeled skin and flesh that used to cover the skull.

"Sssso clossssse." The Mandrake hissed in a rhaspy, echoy voice. He climbed further up the wall, using peculiar holes as handholds. "Jusssst one more." He reached the very top of the wall, where there was a strange gap. The Dark Eldar carefully examined the skull in his hand and compared it to the hole in his wall. He eventually tossed the skull down below. "Ussssselesssss." He hissed in disapointment.

He jumped down, landing on and crushing the skull beneath his feet. "Sssso closssse." The Mandrake muttered. Behind him, the wall seemed to be illuminated with the dark entity missing. It was a massive wall of skulls. Many Human and Eldar skulls, but also many from the countless races that inhabited the galaxy. Their empty eye sockets all gazed at one point in the mandrake's lair. A mysterious energy could be felt from everywhere in the room, something dark and powerful.

"Jusssst one more."

* * *

A/N: Yeah, I know that I promised that the destiny islands arc would come to an end in this chapter and sadly I had to break it.

I had a major scare concerning schoolwork due dates a few days ago, and I was on an adrenaline high for two or three days. I was actually so stressed that I couldn't write. As a guy whose chief method of releiving stress is writing, that's pretty bad. I also had mid-terms coming up, so that ate up my time as well.

I also was the victim of technology. I was about halfway through the chapter when the site glitched or something went wrong. The end result: The entire chapter, all nearly five thousand words of it, was deleted. I know I probably should have had a backup, but hey, I'm too lazy for that. The main reason I posted this as it is was because I felt you guys have waited long enough for the next chapter.

Anyway, After looking back, I suddenly realized that I have been writing the Renegades wrong. They were supposed to be more like they were in this chapter, a bit more cold and vicious. But a lot more than they were here. Oh, well, I'll just rewrite this arc later. I just really want to get to the next world and try getting into writing the KH characters.

So, anyone else kinda freaked out by the decapitator?

Big battle next chappie! (Heh heh, any of my close friends who read this will see what I did there.)


	7. the battle begins

I felt the need to explain that personal joke at the end of the last chapter. In 40k, there are these guys called chaplains, I own one and his nickname is chappie. Yes it is a very dumb joke but I couldn't help myself. Anyway, on with the story!

I do not own warhammer 40000 or Kingdom Hearts or almost anything else in this story. I own my OCs and that is all!

* * *

For the most part, after Mike's little "Chat" with the mayor things were rather busy. Almost as soon as the mayor got over the initial shock of what had happened to him, he declared the islands were now under martial law with the Renegades at the head. The small force that passed for the Destiny islands millitary were a little pissed that these people that had just recently shown up, and nearly nobody knew a thing about any of them, were instantly promoted to command them.

Naoki had gone through several maps of the town and consulted with many local carpenters as to how they could fortify their position as much as possible while expecting an attack at any moment. The overall plan was simple: draw the enemy into the city. Mike knew quite a few things about the Dark Eldar since he had Hex's memories floating around in his head, and he explained that they relied on fast moving vehicles and had little armor to defend themselves. They were still better equiped than the islnders, but city fights were notorious for being meat grinders. Even an elite army wold have trouble from the constant ambushes and traps the defenders would have set up. The only real problem with the plan was that the islands didn't have a large city. The main town was decently sized, but not nearly as big as they'd have liked.

Issac spent most of his time training the general population in combat, asisted by the island's millitary forces. The maniac seemed to enjoy his new role and began hurling insults at his recruits in true drill seargent fasion within minutes. They had no chance of becoming a dependable force, but a poorly trained millitia was better than a mob of civillians. Issac knew this well and set them up with a brutal training routine. They paused only to sleep and eat, the rest of their time was spent training for the coming battle.

While that was going on, Mike kciked the training of Sora, Riku and Kairi into high gear. Turns out, he was planning on spending two months on the islands to train them. But since they had no idea when the enemy was going to show up, he decided that it was time to bust their asses and shove as much as he could down their throats. Every few hours, Naoki had to be called over becasue somebody was too injured to continue. Most of the time it was a broken bone or two, but there was one time where one of Sora's ribs broke and stabbed one of his lungs. The poor boy could barely breath, and much of what he did breath in came out the hole in his lung. Creating a painful air pocket in the boy's chest. If Kairi hadn't been instructed by Naoki on how to deal with that kind of wound, his chest cavity would have popped open like a baloon with too much air in it long before the medic arrived. During it all, their teacher wore a terrifying expresion that Sora and Kairi remembered seeing on his face when he fought Hex.

And that was just the first day.

"That was a pretty good workout today." Mike said. The sun had gone down a while ago, but his wheezing students were just finishing up the first day's training. Their sore bodies were covered with bruises, and the sand around them had the occasional blood stain.

"Shut up." Sora groaned. "My head is still aching from when you hit it." The boy laid lay on his back, looking up at the stars, too exausted to get back up. A rock flew out of nowhere and hit his head. The boy rolled around on the ground, cursing.

"Quit your complaining." the older brunette muttered and took a sip out of a beer his cousin had gotten for him a couple hours ago.

"Maybe you should go a little easier on him?" Naoki suggested, appearing out of nowhere with a stack of papers in her arms. "You might do some permanent damage or accidently kill him."

"Yeah, think of the poor idiot!" Riku begged. Mostly because he didn't want to wind up like his injured best friend. The same rock flew into the back of the silver haired teen's head. It then flew into Mike's waiting hand. "I really prefered it when you didn't use your powers on us." Ruku groaned, rubbing the back of his head. Mike giggled, looking at the rock in his hand.

"I'm actually starting to enjoy this little game." That's when the keyblade bearers all paled and looked at him, terrified, trying to figure out if he wasn't just messing with them. Unforunately, whatever force was in charge of their luck decided to take a break that day.

"Oh God, please no..." They said in unison.

"Bwahaha! Dance my little minions! Dance I say!" Mike yelled with a crazy look in his eyes. The rock in his hand flew at the teens who screamed and ran away from the man, who was somewhere between cackling like a madman and laughing his ass off. "Oh, haha, I'm totally making this part of their training routine now!" He barely managed to say between laughs.

Naoki chuckled a little, smiling at him. Mike appeared to have two faces to his personality, the usual serious and analylistic side, and the fun loving one that randomly popped up every now and then. According to Issac, this side of him was what his cousin was like when they were younger. Doing the stupidest things just for a laugh. It was one of the reasons she liked him.

Said Renegade managed to get his breathing back under control and gave Naoki a knowing little smile. It was then that the girl remembered that the guy could read people's minds when he wanted to. She blushed a bit and looked away. Mike just chuckled.

"So... do you want my report or not?" Naoki asked, showing him the papers. "I spent more than a few hours putting this together for you y'know."

"To be honest, no I don't want it." The gigling man admitted. He willed the rock back into his hand, and the keybladers started to calm down and walk back to where he was. They were surprisingly pretty far away. The training was staring to pay off already. "I can't even begin to imagine how bad it's going to be and I'll most likely be up all night trying to come up with a plan on how to defend this place." He sighed and held his hand out, the Renegade handed over the papers.

"Issac and I can help out if you want."

"No. I'll manage on my own. You two need to rest for tommorow." The older of the two explained as he shifted through the maps where Naoki had noted defendable positions.

"That's bull." Mike stoped looking at the maps and sighed. Knowing where this was going. "You're just looking for something to keep your mind occupied. So you don't think about what happened the other night." She sat down next to him. "I know you better than you think I do. I want to help you through this. We were all really close to Christi, her death..."

"I'll deal with it when I have the time." Mike interrupted. "Right now, I need to prepare a disasterously unprepared island for an invasion, train these kids, and deal with the political bullshit this is undoubtedly going to bring. I can't afford to get emotional right now." Naoki sighed.

"That's just an excuse your telling yourself." She stood up, gazing up at the stars. "But I get it. You're not ready to talk about it yet. When you are, come talk to me. We can't afford to lose you."

"Thanks." Mike replied with a weak smile. "I'll do that. I promise." His friend returned that smile.

"Don't make a promise if you don't plan on keeping it." She said. Mike blinked in surprise. He sadly lowered his head into his hands, setting the papers aside for the moment.

"You really do know me too well." He sighed.

"I'm going to bed, see you in the morning." Naoki said. She left as the kids got back.

"I'd say that's enough for today." Mike told them. Completely losing the saddened look on his face. He stood up, reviewing some of the papers in his possession. "Get some rest. Starting tommorow, I'm not going to be as easy on you as I was today." The teens groaned.

"You call this easy?" Sora said. "I almost died!" Mike chuckled.

"Also, before I forget, you guys have homework." The kids looked at him like he was crazy. He couldn't help but smile at their reactions. "First, I want you all to do some soul searching. I want you all to find the reason you fight the darkness. A person who knows why they are fighting is much more dangerous than somebody whose just fighting a war with no personal reason behind him."

"Second, there are things I know that you probably want to do some things before you die. Most likely, we're all going to die horribly before the end of the month. If you'll regret not doing something when you die, go do it. The only exception to this is sex. The reson being..." He pointed to Kairi.

"If you get pregnant, you'll be forced out of the fighting for at least a year due to the baby. That's something we can't afford since, as far as we know, there are only four people with keyblades." He shifted his gaze to Sora. "You are too noble, and will probably stay out of the fighting so you can help take care of your own kid. Once again, can't afford that." He turned to Riku next. "I don't know what you'd do, but I can tell you that if you didn't help the mother take care of the baby, I'd personally beat your ass until you were six feet under." The master of the Way to Dawn had chills going down his spine.

"I wouldn't think of it!" He quickly declared. Mike nodded in approval.

"Get some sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and prepare yourself for large amounts of pain." The oldest man told his students before walking away, still examining the papers that Naoki gave him.

* * *

For the next week, The Keyblade wielders spent their spent most of their time getting their asses kicked by Mike. However, as time went on, the trio learned more and more from their beatings. They eventually figured out how to tell if they were under one of his illusions and what his usual tactics were. On the last day of the week, they finally managed to beat him.

After that happened, the stunned Renegade decided it was time for them to undergo more specialized training. He took Sora and Kairi to help them come up with more complex ways of using their magic, while Naoki took Riku. Neither Renegade explained to the younger two what it was they were teaching the silver haired boy, and Riku himself kept quiet about it.

Most of the drafted civillians going through Issac's training program absolutely hated the man, but couldn't deny that his methods were effective. Not only did almost all of them know how to hold a gun now, most of them could actually hit an immobile target at close range.

Knowing that the enemy could assault at any moment, Issac had wasted no time organizing the millitia. Each man was part of a five man fire-team, and five fire-teams were organized into a squad led by one of the island's more well trained soldiers. multiple squads were put into a platoon, each platoon was led by a Renegade, keyblade wielder, or a soldier that Issac beleived had the stuff to make a competent commander. Issac was at the very tip top of the organization. His combat experiance with the renegades, as well as from serving as a squad leader back home, made him the most capable commander on the islands.

The island's defences were also coming along pretty well. Naoki set up positions on a map, and enlisted carpenters, engineers, and architechts put together the barricades, razor wire, trenches, and pretty much everything else. They were nowhere near ready to take on the imminant attack that would arrive but they were preparing as best they could.

One of Mike's first priorities once he learned of the invasion was to set up a system that could alert the militia when the enemy arrived. The Drk Eldar relied heavily on speed, so if it wasn't handled right, the majority of the millitia would have either a chest full of splinter crystals or a bayonet to the face before they even knew they were under attack.

The answer to this was surprisingly simple. Every night, someone would sit atop the tallest building in the main town with an airhorn. Who said the military didn't like to keep things simple?

It was also the lookout who got the first taste of battle the night of the invasion.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Hex's failed ambush. Kakeru, a young teen drafted into the millitia, sat, bored out of his mind. He'd drawn the short stick for that night's guard duty. Which was a shame, because he had actually made plans to spend some time with his girlfriend tonight.

He groaned as he leaned back in his seat, looking up at the stars. Guard duty was boring, nothing to do but stare at the horizon.

"Mind if I bother you for a bit?" Someone behind him asked. Kakeru almost jumped out of his seat in surprise. Getting up in a hurry, the teen turned around to see his girlfriend at the top of the stairs that led back down.

"Ayano?" He asked, wondering if he had started halucinating. The brunet teen in front of him smiled at him innocently.

"I thought you might get lonely up here by yourself." She said. "So I thought I'd keep you company."

"You sure?" Kakeru asked, a little concerned. "If somebody found out, we'd get into trouble with that guy Issac. I'm not supposed to have anyone with me when I'm up here."

"Oh, come on." Ayano rolled her eyes. "You really think that Some alien race or something is going to attack us for no reason?"

"Yeah, I know it's a little stupid." The boy agreed. "But those guys in charge seem to be really terrified of what they say is coming."

"So, I risk getting into trouble by coming here and all you want to do is talk about this?" Kakeru chuckled.

"Yeah, your right. Let's change the subject." The two spent the next few hours sitting on the roof, gazing at the stars and enjoying each other's company. Completely unexpecting and unprepared for the horrors that would be unleashed upon their home that night.

* * *

"I can have my platoon try to hold this position." Mike said, pointing at a spot on the map spread out on the table before him. Also on the table were notes he and Issac had written up about known enemy forces, the condition of the platoons and squads they'd put together, and how much ammo they had been able to get their hands on and how to distribute it. Sora watched silently nearby. He'd been brought here so he could get first hand experiance in commanding forces. The others had been invited along as well, but Riku was busy training with Naoki and Kairi was helping her mother take care of her father. Which the younger teens were all pissed about what Mike did. The man had been an emotional and mental wreck ever since the Renegade gave him Hex's memories. "Though I'd need some serious support on my right flank." He continued, geusturing to a few buildings on the map. "If any of these buildings fall into enemy hands they'll tear my men apart, and it'll be hard to push them out."

"Damn near impossible actually." Issac commented. "Our forces aren't even close to being considered capable, and the enemy have veterans who have gone on how many of these raids again?"

"Some of them have participated in a few hundred."

"Wonderful." The gunslinger replied grimly. He sighed deeply. "No matter how I look at this, we're all screwed. Even if these people even had ten years of combat experiance, we'd be overwhelmed by the sheer gap in our technology." He fliped through a pile of notes until he found one paper in particular. Mike had taken to drawing the horrors he had seen in Hex's memories, and this one was by far one of the most terrifying.

It had a steel spine that was far too big for it running down the outside of it's back, vials of green liquid held a mix of chemicals that did God knows what to the poor creature's body were hooked up to this massive bone. It's sickly pale body was overly muscular, built like a tank was a good way to describe it. It had two pairs of arms, one ended in hands gripping formidable blades, the other ended with hooks and looked to be stitched on through a horrifyingly painful surgery. It's face was hidden behind a dark mask outlined in a bright bronze color. Neither of the two were sure if they wanted to see what lay underneath that mask.

"The Wracks." Mike nodded. He closed his eyes and focused on bringing up Hex's knowlege of these things. "Experiments and slaves of the Haemunculi. Commonly they are unfortunate Dark Eldar who got on the mad scientist's bad side, but a good number of them are also members of other races kidnapped in raids." He shuddered at the memories. "Most of those are human slaves, but there are a few "pure" Eldar and some Tau."

"Tau?" Sora asked. Mike shook his head.

"Doesn't matter right now, I was just rambling what I remembered." He looked directly at the image of the Wrack. "They've been tortured to the point of mindlessness. Unfortunately, that gives them a staggering tolerance for pain. They'll take a mortal wound and just shrug it off unless it's instantly fatal."

"In other words, go for the head or it'll chop you to itty bitty little bits." Issac said.

"Pretty much." Mike shrugged, the oldest man sighed.

"And you think these thing's will be the first wave?" He asked.

"Standard Dark Eldar tactics." The younger cousin answered. "The Dark Eldar themselves don't just get high off of death and pain like I originally thought. it somehow makes them stronger, and harder to kill." He once again shuddered as one of Hex's more unpleasant memories surfaced. "There was this one battle about two hundred years ago. The Eldar targeted a fortress world held by some of the greatest slodiers in their galaxy. They sent in a tide of Wracks, who were all butchered at range. But the pain from their own comerades made the attackers almost impossibly strong. every one of their warriors became the equivalent of an entire squad of the defenders." He shuddered again. "They left no survivors, and arranged the dead into disturbing patterns that could only be fully seen from orbit."

"And the brooding spike ball over here and his friends thought you were messed up." Issac muttered. "These guys take it to a whole new level." A sudden knock on the door snapped the two out of their conversation. Issac instinctively drew his gun and leveled it at the door.

"Who's there?!" He demanded.

"You could just open the door and find out." Sora suggested as he made his way to the door to do just that. "It's not like everyone on this island is out to kill us." He opened the door, and just narrowly dodged a sword that swung at him from out of the darkness of the night. He got a clear look at the wielder of said weapon. It was a being of darkness if he'd ever seen one. It's body was as dark as shadows with pale blue veins spreading across it's entire body. It's eyes were the same shade of blue and were glowing, and it's hair was also that color, only it looked more like a fire burning on it's scalp than hair.

Issac opened fire, letting loose a few rounds that slammed right into the creature. The areas the bullets landed suddenly turned into a black smoke that let the bullets pass clean through it's body before reforming.

The creature let out an annoyed hiss and retreated into the darkness. Vanishing in the night.

"You so sure about that now, kid?" Issac lectured as he quickly reloaded a fresh clip into his weapon.

"What was that thing?!" A badly startled Sora almost yelled.

"Impossible." A wide-eyed Mike spoke. "That was a Mandrake. Hespol doesn't use them since he's too terified of them."

"So, what's that mean?" Issac quickly asked, taking cover next to the door and peering out into the night. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but he knew that thing was still out there.

"A third party must have gotten involved." Mike concluded. He snatched up an assault rifle and handed one to Sora. "Alert the millitia, We're under attack!" The words had barely left his mouth when the sound of a young woman's screaming and an airhorn reached their ears.

"I think they already know."

* * *

Ayano screamed in terror. Not two feet from her, Kakeru lay facedown on the ground in a widening pool of his own blood. The airhorn in his hands. Towering over the dead body of the teen boy, a mandrake tugged it's sword out of the boy's body. The sickly green veins on it's body pulsed with power.

Before the girl could run, she was incinerated by green flames that exploded from the mouth of the shadowy monster.

In the streets below, the sounds of shots being fired, people screaming as they were either killed or watched one of their loved ones murdered in ways that made their worst nightmares seem pleasant by comparison in front of their eyes. The battle had barely started, but the disorganized and terrified people of The Destiny Islands were already losing horribly.

Few noticed when a massive hole in the eastern sky was torn open, almost two hundred Dark Eldar skifs spewed forth from the portal to the dark city, the passengers crying out for blood and death. They didn't notice because they were too busy fighting for their lives against an enemy that they, despite the fact that they had been training to fight these things for two weeks, hadn't believed existed.

* * *

Naoki and Riku felt it at the same time. It was a sensation that was dificult to explain to those who had never felt it before, and it was something that usually only those who had survived multiple life or death struggles ever felt. The air around them went cold, chilling them to the bone. Adrenaline pumped into their systems like a flood breaking through a dam. They both looked at each other and knew from the look in the other's eyes that they felt it too. A big fight was coming.

"Remember that question I asked you when we started?" The girl asked.

"Glory, or victory?" She nodded.

"Time to make your choice." She drew a pistol from a holster on her hip. "Behind you!" The raven haired girl fired a round that grazed Riku's cheek and struck a mandrake that had somehow gotten behind him. The Alien shrieked in pain, black blood seeping from a wound in it's chest.

In one quick motion, Riku spun around, summoning The Way to Dawn, and beheaded the mandrake. Black blood shot into the sky and came showering down like a cursed rain.

"I choose victory." The silver haired warrior decided. Glaring at the glowing eyes that now surrounded them. His new mentor smiled.

"We might just make a soldier out of you yet." She spit on the ground. In a disturbing sight to any that had never seen it before, a mound of flesh exploded from where Naoki's saliva landed, and began to mould itself into a fleshy humanoid shape. Eventually it settled upon the appearance of a young man with black hair. His eyes completely devoid of emotion. Naoki on the other hand, glared at her creation as if it had pissed her off by simply existing. She turned her attention back to the foes emerging from the shadows. Their glowing eyes full of hate and a demonic lust for death. She droped the gun in her hand.

Foot long bayonet-like blades emerged from the palms of the girl and her creation, all of them dripping with deadly poison. those who had seen them before would have recognised the blades as massive stingers from a stingray. The Giant Freshwater Stingray to be precise. Her nails growing longer and sharper, becoming claws. He canines lengthened and gleamed in the moonlight. Her glowing blue eyes shifted to gold.

"Let's show these bastards the power of mother nature!" The raven haired Alpha Prototype growled.

* * *

Kairi barely managed to block the Mandrake's sword coming down at her head. The Dark Eldar monster hissed in agitation from it's prey's skill. Looking down the hall behind the mandrake, Kairi saw the lifeless body of her mother lying in a pool of her own blood and a gaping hole in her chest from where she was stabbed. The cold, dead eyes of the woman who had taken care of Kairi since she came here were staring at her. It was unnerving.

The mandrake hissed once again, and struck at it's distracted target, only for the girl to block it once again and swiftly get in a stab to it's neck. Unfortunately, the colorful keyblade simply passed through the monster's flesh as if it were smoke. Realizing her mistake too late, Kairi tried to back away, but it quickly grabbed her by the neck and lifted her off her feet, choking her.

"Damn... you..." She managed. She could already feel her lungs begin to burn with the lack of oxygen and the force of the alien's grip tighening around her windpipe. She tried to kick the thing, but to no avail, all her blows either didn't have any effect, or they simply passed through the thing trying to kill her. The thing snarled at her, it's open mouth spitting forth a small amount of green flames.

"No!" Her father screamed. Jumping out of a formerly closed door armed with a kitchen knife. Before the surprised alien could react, the mayor sunk the knife into the creature's neck up to the hilt. The mandrake screetched and dropped Kairi, who hit the ground coughing and gasping for air. Her adopted father screamed in rage that had been building up for the past few weeks. He ripped the knife out of the dying alien and repeatedly stabbed it in the face, not caring at all if his blows passed through the flesh or stabbed it. It died, gurgling noises coming from it's half torn out throat.

Her body still shaking from her close call and the loss of her mother, Kairi leaned on a wall for support as she got to her feet. Her father was panting, and wide eyed as he stabbed the mandrake one last time.

"They are here." He breathed out in horror. "Those who live in the darkness of stolen suns. Those who live off the pain of others, those who haunt the stars, bringing death to entire worlds..." He looked back at his adopted daughter, his eyes filled with sheer mind numbing terror. "...they are here. And they have come to devour our very souls!"

* * *

A/N: And I am alive! Sorry about not uploading anything in more than a month, my sister's ipod thingy that she used to access the internet broke and so she decided that her need to be on facebook 24/7 was more important than my writing. So she practically stole the computer I use to write and never let me back on. Things have been resolved with her though, she recently got the thing replaced so I now have my computer back. yay!

So, I once again couldn't fulfill my promise for this chapter to be the one with the big battle for the islands. I was doing a lot of writing, saw that I accidently wrote what I felt was a good way to end a chapter and decided that you guys have waited patiently long enough. I promise you that the next chapter will end the Destiny Islands arc with a BANG!

Also, Kakeru and Ayano, those two, despite being quite dead, will play a big role in the future. How? Well, you'll find out at some point.


	8. Issac blows shit up

Hespol stood upon his Venom a thousand feet above the ground, flanked by four Incubi, each of them held their massive Klaives, eager to join the coming slaughter. Hespol himself had come to the battle with only four pieces of equipment. His favored huskblade, a sword sheathed in a powerful energy field. The second was Ghostplate armor, the best armor he had access to. The third, was a glowing crystal he held in his right hand. The final, well he wanted to be able to test out his new toy that his late haemunculi gave him.

He was greatly surprised to find the islands already under attack by the mandrakes, who were most likely being led by the infamous decapitator. He wondered what it was that prompted the attack. The four armed mandrake never launched raids before. He usually joined them, and vanished after taking his first kill.

His curiosity was quickly stamped out when one of his warriors contacted him over the comm.

"Lord Archon, this was Lady Hex's last deployment zone correct? What do we do if we find her?" The warrior asked. Hespol sneered at the memory.

"You bring that miserable failure to me so I can kill her myself!" He growled.

"Understood, lord Archon." The soldier replied.

Truth be told, Hespol had been planning on killing Hex when she returned with the keyblade brats anyway. She knew too much about him and the other generals. The fact that she hadn't retuned yet simply saved him the effort of killing her in a way that her wych cult wouldn't suspect he was behind it. However, the fact that a warrior as powerful and skilled as Hex was killed here concerned the Alien leader. He had to wonder, who or what had killed her?

* * *

Said lady killer was with Sora and Issac at the moment.

"Are you sure this thing's going to work?" Sora asked worriedly.

"I'm about thirty perecent sure this thing will be able to do the job."

"And the other seventy percent?"

"Well..." Mike looked up from the controls of the crashed Raider from Hex's party. "To put it one way, we're seventy percent dead."

"And you're sure this is a good idea?" The keyblade master asked.

"Better than a lot I've had the past few years." He resumed his work.

"But what about the other people on the islands? We can't just leave them to deal with these mandrakes on their own!"

"We can't really do much with that armada looming over our heads." Issac pointed out, nodding in the direction of Hespol's massive force.

"But can't we do something to help?"

"We are." The veteran soldier explained. "We kill off the mandrakes, and Hespol's just gonna blow us up." He pointed to a massive Dark Eldar ship hovering behind the main force. "That's a voidraven bomber. It carries some of the heaviest guns the enemy can field. We need to kill it before it gets the chance to drop it's payload." Sora crossed his arms.

"I still don't like it." He muttered.

"It's not like we're leaving them completely defenceless." Mike chimed in. "Let's not forget that Riku, Kairi, and Naoki are still there. They'll do what they can, but if that voidraven gets the oportunity, it'll pretty much wipe us out." He pressed one last button on the control panel, and the whole thing began to glow a light purple. The Leader of the Renegades smirked.

"Got the thing working?" Issac asked.

"Oh, hell yeah." the crimson eyed man smiled evily. He looked back up at the other two with him. "Can you try getting in touch with the others for me? I wanna get a status report before we get this started."

"On it." Issac confirmed. He put a finger up against his radio headset. "This is he who laughs calling any commanding officer available..." He walked off tring to find a better signal. The Dark Eldar technology seemed to interfere with comunications for some reason.

"He who laughs? That's an odd codename." Sora commented.

"It's because Issac is an ancient Hebrew name." Mike explained. "Translated, it means "He will Laugh"." He reached into one of the pockets of his cargo jeans and pulled out a pocketbook. "If I die, or something happens to me in this battle, read this. It holds some sensitive information that I've held from the others." Sora blinked in surprise.

"Me? You're entrusting this to me, not Naoki or Issac?" He asked.

"Of cource." Mike said as if it was the most obvious thing in all the worlds. "This holds information on your... vision."

"Didn't you say not to talk about that or it might get us killed?" Sora questioned.

"I think this might be worth it. I pulled this information from Hex's memories, and I think it might hold the answers to at least one of those beings you saw." Michael held out the book to Sora, who reluctantly took it.

"I don't know if I should thank you or be terrified of what's inside here." The younger teen said.

"I know that feeling." Mike nodded, "Maybe both?" he looked deep into Sora's big blue eyes. "Remember this, the number Seven is considered in many cultures to be divine. Seven days of the week, seven deadly sins, seven heavenly virtues, seven princesses of heart. And now, Seven generals of darkness."

Before the boy could question Mike about what he meant by that, Issac returned.

"I got Naoki!" He declared, tossing his headset at Mike, who caught it and put it on. He then jumped off the skiff and searched for a better signal.

"What's that you got there?" Issac asked, his eyes on the book. Sora shook his head nervously and put the book away in his own pocket.

"Nothing really." He lied. He didn't like to lie, it left a bad taste in his mouth and a bad feeling in his heart, but if this book held what Mike said it did, he saw no other choice he could make.

"You nervous?" Issac asked. "Your home being invaded by freaks like this, it would put anybody on edge."

"I guess, I'm just more worried about my friends." The teenager replied. "You?"

"I'm absolutely terrified. From what Mike's told us about these guys, they are easily the most messed up and powerful things we've ever fought. And beleive me, combining the two NEVER has good results." He shivered, remembering the last time they had fought an insane psycho with too much money, free time, and not nearly enough respect for human lives. "I'm never going to look at Llamas the same way again..."

The two waited in silence for Michael to return. Both of them lost in their thoughts, and worries for their friends. Only a few minutes passed before the crimson eyed teen returned with a grim face.

"Naoki was caught in an ambush in the woods."

"She can handle herself." Issac reassured him.

"Naoki can, I'm not too sure about Kairi though." Sora's eyes snapped wide open.

"What's wrong?" He demanded.

"Riku is with Naoki, and that means that Kairi's on her own trying to get the millitia to fight back."

"I gotta go help her!" Mike nodded a little heasitantly.

"Go!" He barked. The younger brunette didn't need any more prodding and dashed off in the direction of the town. When he was out of earshot, Issac spoke.

"You do know that Naoki will fight her way out of that ambush and get to the town before he does right?"

"Yeah, I know, but the last time the kid saw me do this, he was a little shaken up afterwards." Mike closed his eyes. "Fourty percent." The air around him began to glow with a faint blue light. He opened his eyes, revealing they were glowing a bright red. "You up for a killing spree tonight, Beast?" He snarled. The wind suddenly picked up, and Issac could have sworn he heard the dark, haunting voice of the thing that shared his cousin's body mingling with the howling of the wind.

**"I thought you'd never ask."**

* * *

If Riku hadn't been busy fighting for his life, he'd have been terrified and awed by what he was seeing.

Naoki stabbed a mandrake with the blade protruding from her palm. When the wound simply evaporated in black smoke, she tore at it's still solid insides with her claws. With a sickening sound simmilar to a wet sponge being torn, the girl ripped the Alien's intestines out of it's body. The organs splattered on the ground, making a black mess at the monster's feet. The alien clutched it's gut as it's body reformed, and died on the spot. By the time it had hit the ground, Naoki had spun around and sunk her razor fangs into the shadow black neck of another mandrake. Black blood poured out of the wound when she removed her teeth. The dark liquid clung to her teeth as she snarled at the few surviving mandrakes.

The creature she had created laid amongst the dead, one of the mandrakes had cut it's chest open and ripped out it's heart before making a meal out of it. Littering the ground were the bodies of well over a dozen mandrakes. The survivors were falling back, knowing that they were too outmatched to hope of winning here.

Riku dismissed the Way to dawn in a flash and sat down on a nearby rock, gasping for breath. The fight had taken quite a lot out of him. Glancing in her direction, he saw Naoki spit the mandrake blood out of her mouth a best she could.

"That Taste is horrible!" She said, making gagging noises as she tried to remove the taste from her mouth.

Riku and Naoki both looked at one another. Both of them were exhausted from the ordeal and drenched in the black blood of their enemies, but they were otherwise fine. The girl smiled, a creepy sight given that she still had some blood still on her teeth.

"You did well today. I knew you'd make an excellent soldier." She told him.

"What was that thing?" Riku asked, pointing at the creature she had summoned.

"It's a clone." She explained. "I mess around with the DNA of some of my cells and I can make these things out of them. Even make them look like people whose DNA I've used before."

"And who was this guy you made him look like then?" The girl's eyes narrowed into a death glare, sending shivers down Riku's spine.

"He was one of the Ice Bitch's men, that day three years ago." She answered with a voice colder than a blizzard at christmas town. "I make my clones look like them so I'll never forget what she and her friends did to me." She shok her head. "Sorry, this isn't the time to get lost in the past. Plenty of time for that after we kill the rest of these freaks. We can't let our friends hog all the fun now can we?"

Riku nodded and the two of them ran after the fleeing mandrakes, who were caught and slaughtered to the last man... alien... thing within a few minutes. After that, they set about returning to the town, they could hear the screams of the population ten minutes before they arrived. They were losing, badly.

It was a horrifying sight that greeted them when they arrived. The streets were littered with the dead and limbs ripped off by the sinister blades the mandrakes carried, their faces forever frozen as twisted expressions of agony and fear. the roads in which they lay had become rivers of blood. Some were nothing but charred, blackened corpses, having been burned by flames that melted away any hope of identifying those unfortunate enough to be caught by them. There had to have been well over a hundred bodies before them.

Riku felt his stomach lurch, and he doubled over, vomiting what little he had eaten before starting the night's training. The smell of so much blood alone threatened to make him pass out. He'd seen a lot of horrible things when he fell to darkness and during the nearly two years that had passed since, but seeing all these people that he knew having been murdered in such terrible ways, it was too much.

"Looks like the enemy's been busy." Naoki said, with an almost uncaring tone. "C'mon, we gotta turn this tide before we all end up like this." She strode forth into the sea of dead, her shoes were soon soaked red with blood, her expression not having changed since the fight in the woods.

Riku stood there a second, just watching her walk. 'How could she?' was the thought running through his mind. 'She's younger than me, how could she see something like this and not be affected in the slightest?' Another thought ocoured to him right then. Just based off what he knew about her and the other Renegades, he realized that during their own war on their home world, they had seen sights like this many times, possibly even been the ones responsible for such a loss of life. Could it be that he'd have to do the same in this war? Would he have to give up his humanity in order to win? Would he have to become a monster like the young woman in front of him in order to save people from the monsters that sought to kill them?

He never again saw the Renegades as the helpful, if brutal teachers he had when he first met them. Or even as true comrades and friends, Not once until the day he died.

* * *

Kairi went numb with terror and adrenaline long ago. The only thing keeping her alive was her training that had been beaten into her until it had become instinct. The mandrakes never came head on, they were always striking as they literally emerged from shadows. A number of her neighbors had died because they were too distracted by the mandrakes in front of them to notice that one of the oily black monsters had emerged behind them from their own shadows.

Kairi, her father and almost seventy millitia soldiers were holed up in the hastily fortified city hall. Hurriedly, they brought candles, lanterns, and other sources of light in an attempt to remove as many shadows from the from the building as they possibly could. Despite their best attempts, there were always shadows that mandrakes would emerge from.

The Mandrakes attacked them in wave after wave of moving darkness. Between waves, Kairi and a few othe soldiers tended to their wounded, brining them to her father's old office.

"You're going to be alright." Kairi told one of the soldiers. He was a boy about fourteen, and he didn't seem to hear her. He just stared at his right arm, or rather, where it had been. The boy had lost it to one of the Mandrakes, and was bleeding profusely from the stump. If nothing was done, he'd be dead by morning.

"We're all dead." Said another traumatized teenage soldier who had seen his girlfriend murdered horrifically in the first wave of mandrake attackes. Kairi ignored him and cast cure on the boy with the missing arm. The magic exausted her. She had no energy left, the only thing that kept her going was the adrenaline that was flooding her system, keeping her alert, forcing her to watch as these people she knew and loved were torn apart and devoured by these monsters. She wanted to just curl up into a ball and die, at least that would spare her from having to watch as more and more people died.

"We can still win this." Said Tidus, who was one of the soldiers helping her tend to the wounded between attacks. "We're not the only group, if we can just get in contact with Sora and Riku's teams, we might be able to launch a counterattack."

"And what will that manage to accomplish?!" An older soldier shouted. "That will only get us killed quicker! I say we surrender, try to negotiate with these things."

"The darkness will feast upon us." Kairi's father spoke almost propheticlly. "They accept no surrender, they will continue to hunt us until we are dead."

"Will somebody shut him up!" Someone shouted. The older man who had suggested surrender raised his rifle in the direction of his mayor.

"You will sit down and be quiet or I will personally blow your fucking brains out!" He shouted. Nobody other than Kairi noticed that a pair of glowing blue eyes had appeared in the man's shadow. It was already too late for him.

With speed Kairi had never seen before, a four armed Mandrake ripped itself out of the man's shadow, a wicked looking blade carried in one hand came down on the man with the gun, cleaving his head from his body in one stroke.

The head bounced into the lap of the boy Kairi had just been treating, and the body began to twitch as it fell to the ground. It's trigger finger spased enough to pull the trigger of the gun as it fell, sending a bullet into the brain of the boy. Blood and bits of brain painted the wall behind him.

The other teen in the room with Kairi and her father screamed in terror at the Mandrake's arrival, grabbed his gun and poured fire at the monster. The four armed Mandrake moved so fast he was practically a shadow on the wall. A bright blue ball flew out of one of it's arms and slammed into the teen's body. It sucked all the warmth from his body, turning his skin black as it froze the blood. The boy breathed no more.

Kairi reacted on pure instinct. She had no idea how she was supposed to fight this thing but she did anyway. She summoned her keyblade and attacked as the Mandrake was about to slice off Tidus' head. The blow was blocked just an inch away from Tidus' neck. Unknown to them, this made him the first person in ten thousand years to survive an attack from the legendary Decapitator. Surprised, the Mandrake jumped back from it's prey.

"Go! Warn the others!" Kairi ordered, putting herself between the monster and her friend. In complete shock from his close encounter with death, Tidus obeyed, leaving Kairi and her father to fend for themselves againt a creature that was feared by even it's own kind. The blackness of the Mandrake's face split into a smiling bright blue mouth with razor teeth.

"Your ssskull ssshall be mine!" It hissed with a sense of victory behind it. Elated that he had finally found the final skull he needed.

"The darkness devours all." The mayor of destiny Islands stated, almost in agreement even as he grasped the knife he'd used to kill nearly five Mandrakes so far. It's blade still black with the blood of the alien monsters.

From somewhere else inside the building, Kairi could hear the loud report of gunfire and terrified screaming. They were under attack once again.

The Mandrake fired a ball out of his hand directly at Kairi.

"Aero." She muttered, and the ball was thrown in a different direction by the wind she had summoned. The Mandrake snarled in annoyance and leaped at the keyblade wielder with sword in hand.

* * *

"That's the real plan?" Issac asked in shock. He stood on the bow of the raider manning the Dark Lance turret while his cousin stood at the control panel running the last few pre-flight programs. Both of them wore protective glasses that Mike said would protect them from the searing eye pain of a dark lance beam. "That's cold, even for you."

"Sora, Riku and Kairi must survive if we are going to win this war, and they are going to see worlds fall many times in the next few years."

"Yeah, I didn't say that I disagreed with it, just that you don't usually come up with plans that involve the deaths of a thousand people."

"More than a thousand, and it's the best I could come up with with the resources and time we had available to us. If only we had another two weeks or so, we could have called the King's royal navy and evacuated before Hespol arrived."

"Aren't you the one who tells us not to sweat the "If onlys" and have no regrets?"

"How can I not regret the deaths of countless civillians?"

"Telling yourself there was nothing more you could do?"

"I need a bit more variety in my reasons for letting people die. That was my excuse for the last five thousand or so."

"There is no pleasing you is there? And anyway, the number's actually around three thousand."

"Not after this." A moment of silence passed between the two, Issac uncomfortably shifted his weight from right to left and tapped his fingers on his shiny, banged up from a crash, new toy.

This was a common thing for these two. Just before battle, Mike became overly remorseful and Issac became jittery and inquisitive.

"Quick question. Why do you need me to man the gun? Can't you just ignite their fuel and blow them up that way? It certainly worked on that enemy Gummi ship on our way here."

"Would work normally, but the Dark Eldar vehicles draw energy from a stolen sun in their home city through these sails." Mike knocked on the mast jutting out of the middle of the main deck. "The energy isn't flammable, so I can't blow it up. Which is where you come in." Mike pressed a button and Issac could hear the engines starting up.

"Operation: Blow Shit Up is a go!" Issac shouted with glee as the Raider lifted itself off the ground. The eyes and hearts of both warriors hardened as they rose upward towards Hespol's massive fleet of over two hundred raiders and God knew what else. Both of them knew one thing, they would bring down that bomber, or they would die trying.

* * *

"Lord Archon! Incoming Raider!" The pilot of Hespol's Venom called out.

"Must be Hex and her survivors. I want all forces to concentrate their fire on that ship! Blow them out of the sky!" Hespol ordered with a sneer. The entire fleet moved to destroy the one ship aproaching them. They did not know how fatal a mistake that was.

A small squadron of four Raiders were the first ones to enter firing range of the new Raider. Each of the Dark Eldar vehicles were filled to the brim with warriors carrying bayoneted splinter rifles and encased in a bodysuit of segmented, spiked armor painted black with glowing red eyes. Every last one of the aliens calling out for the blood and pain of the enemy.

Four beams of Darklight fired from the turrets mounted on the front of the Raiders. Each shot was more than capable of turning their targets into scrap. Much to the alarm of the aliens, their target avoided all four beams from their dark lances and returned a shot of it's own. One of the Raiders was struck dead on. The resulting explosion tore the flying ship apart and sent it's crew falling hundreds of feet into the dark waters below. None survived.

The three remaining Raiders, undaunted by the destruction of one of their own, continued pouring fire at the attacking ship. Their passengers joined in, firing their poisonous crystaline amuntion in the hopes of shooting the driver. The attacking Raider zoomed past the three skiffs trying to intercept it. It passed so close to one of them, that the Alien pilot managed to get a good look at the glowing Human pilot of the other one, and down the barrel of the pistol in the man's hand. The gun went off, and the bullet passed by his bare head. It must have been a special kind of bullet, because a small jolt of electricity jumped from it into his body.

Enraged, the pilot turned his ship around and chased the vehicle piloted by the human who dared try to take his life. He flew his ship faster than he ever had in his life, ignoring the bizare screams of his passengers begging him to pull up. Why pull up? Why, when the fool who dared attempt to take his life was right in front of him, and he was catching up by the second almost as if it was standing still?

Only when he could see the smug grin of the pilot not ten feet from the bow of his ship did the illusion fade. He crashed into the island's shore before he even realized what had happened. His ship blasted apart in a firey explosion, killing all aboard. Hundreds of feet above, the two remaining Raiders were chasing down the one hijacked by the two Renegades.

"Godammit Mike! Turn around so I can blast them!" Issac shouted over the wind as he turned the turret as far as it would go in a vain attempt to get them into his sights.

"Not yet." The younger teen answered. His eyes glued to the massive ship in the back of the armada. Nothing else mattered in this moment. Not Issac's shouting, not the beams of darklight his pursuers were firing at him, not even the massive armada of over two thousand warriors in front of him, all taking careful aim at them. Nothing mattered, not until his real target came into his view. "Fire on the target! Now!"

"Finally!" Issac shouted as he pulled the trigger, sending a beam of darklight at the Voidraven. The beam was too low to actually hit the thing, but Mike didn't care, neither did the Dark Eldar armada. They all watched with horrorstricken faces as the beam struck its true target: the bomber's payload.

Knowing that it was doomed, the voidraven fired off the four missiles under it's wings in a last ditch effort to catch the beam and save itself or inflict more death among the people of the islands. None were sure which was the case. In a massive blast that encompassed the bomber and two or three other craft, the bomb it carried went off. There were two detonations, each a split second apart. The first released a powerful forcefield that trapped all those within it. The second released a small amount of darklight into the environtment. In a powerful, black explosion, everything within that forcefield was utterly destroyed down to the last atom.

"Oh, that was AWESOME!" Issac shouted. "Whoo!" Mike also smiled, satisfied that he had played his part, but the battle was not yet over, and he still had the matter of avenging Christi.

"Hold on!" He shouted, turning his craft back toward the Islands. More than a hundred craft pursued them, all pouring darklight beams and splinter crystals at them. Issac ditched the gun, grabbing a RPG launcher he had strapped to his back, and ran to the rear of the ship.

"That's a lot of targets." He said with a grin. He lifted the launcher up on his shoulders, and fired into the mass of ships. It missed. "Got any tricks to get us out of here?" He asked as he loaded another shot. A splinter crystal barely missing his head. Mike didn't answer, he was too focused on piloting his way back to the islands.

Unfortunately for them, the sheer volume of fire being poured at their ship was something not even the greatest pilot in all the worlds could have avoided. A darklight beam smashed into the back of their ship. The resulting explosion killed their engines, and they plummeted to the ground.

"Grab onto me!" Mike shouted as he watched the ground rise up to meet them, but Issac already knew what to do and clamped onto his cousin's arm. The Alpha Prototype's glowing eyes burned bright as he extended his other hand to his dying ship. "Pulse!" A powerful burst of electric energy shot out of his hand, sending the two cousins flying away. They crashed onto the shore of Destiny Islands after falling a good hundred feet or so. Mike sent out another pulse toward the ground just before they hit the ground to soften the landing, but it still knocked the wind out of them and sent them tumbling for a good twenty feet. Issac lost his grip when they crashed, and rolled off in a different direction.

"Owwwwwwwww." The older soldier groaned, trying to get up. He felt a lot of pain in his ribs and was certain at least two were broken and the rest of them had to be bruised. "Mike? You okay?" He gasped out. Looking around, he realized that they had landed just a few feet from a small rock wall probably used to mark high tide or prevent flooding. If they had rolled just two feet more, they would have smashed their heads on the rocks. Still, Mike didn't answer.

The leader of the Renegades lay face down in the sand almost ten feet away. His blue aura had faded away, and Issac wasn't sure if his last relative was breathing or not. He rushed to the teen's side and rolled him over. Thankfully, he was breathing.

"C'mon dumbass, wake up!" Issac shouted, shaking Mike, trying to wake him.

"I'm up, I'm up." Mike groaned, getting up. "Ugh, what did we do this time? Feels like a train ran over my head."

"I'll tell you what you mortals did." A dark voice above them said. The cousins looked up, to see the remaining Dark Eldar armada hovering above them. Directly in front of them floated a smaller craft, armed with two massive versions of the splinter rifle, both aimed directly at them. Standing on the craft were four Dark Eldar wearing white helmets with massive horns sticking out of the top. Decorating their armor were shattered gems. Mike knew what those were, they were soulstones, stones that all 'pure' Eldar wore that would absorb their souls upon their death rather than letting Slannesh devour them. Each of these warriors carried massive two handed blades that were almost as tall as the warriors that carried them. These were Incubi warriors.

However, they weren't the ones the two Humans were looking at. Standing at the head of the Incubi, was a Dark Eldar in black armor also decorated with soulstone trophies. In his hand was a black sword made entirely out of the bones of his fallen enemies. His helmet also sported the same horns as the Incubi, but the helm itself was black, and his eyes burned with such hatred that they could see it clearly through the helmet's red eyes. They knew who this was.

"Hespol." Mike snarled. "I don't need to be reminded. One look at your ugly mug reminded me of how I destroyed your ace. You can still win here, but what will it cost you?"

"Not as much as you may think." The Archon replied. "You know my name, how?"

"Your assassin told me just before I killed her."

"Ah, so you are the one that killed Hex. In that case, alow me to congratulate you, you have truely earned a place among the long history of foes I have slain."

"You haven't killed me yet. Does this mean you intend to come down here and fight me man to freak?" The Archon chuckled.

"The ground does not deserve to touch my feet. I will not be coming down to fight, I have something else for you." He pulled a small crystal out of a slot in his armor. "I do hope it doesn't tear your face off, I plan on putting it on display in my museum of trophies." He tossed the small crystal into the sand, and a massive hole in reality tore itself open twenty feet or so away from Mike and Issac. The two looked on in horror as they watched something emerge from the hole.

It looked like it might have been a human at one point, or it had human skin covering much of it's wires. It had bulging arms as wide as Issac that had been cut off at the biceps, replaced with a mesh of metal contraptions ending in a massive clawed hand on one arm and a mean looking sickle on the other. It had no legs, they had also been cut off and replaced with anti-grav engines that kept it afloat just a few feet off the ground. It also had a massive tail arching over it like a scorpion, but instead of a poisonous stinger, it was tipped with two massive cannon versions of the splinter rifle. It's wrists and back was covered by a massive armored black shell. It's head was hidden by a black mask that hid the entire head. And to top it all off, it was the size of a truck.

"A Talos Pain Engine." Mike breathed with a mix of awe and mind-numbing horror.

"Is that bad?" Issac asked nervously.

"Really, really bad."

"Kill them!" Hespol shouted to his massive new minion. Mike and Issac ran for the stone wall, jumped over it and used it for cover from a sudden stream of splinter crystals fired from the pain engine's tail.

Issac popped up from behind the wall and fired off a few shots from his favorite pistol into the thing's fleshy parts. The bullets themselves did absolutely nothing other than bounce off the thick armor or bury themselves deep in it's incredibly muscled body. If those bullets hurt the thing, it didn't show it. It didn't even seem to care that it had been shot.

Issac ducked again when the splinter crystals flew at him again.

"What does it take to kill that fucker?!" He roared in frustration.

"Our weapons aren't capable of getting through that armor." Mike said with an eerie calm to his voice. "We need to think of another way to do this."

**_I can help. _**said the deep, dark, primal voice in his head. **_I can squash this insignificant bug for you._**

_But, for what in exchange?_ Mike snapped back. _I'm never letting you have control of my body again, you know that._

**_If you don't, you won't be alive ten minutes from now. Your choice. Make it quickly, Hespol and his lackeys are moving to attack those other meat sacks you care so much for._**

Looking up, he saw that Hespol and his forces were indeed leaving. Their vehicles moving in what he assumed was the direction of the town.

"Never." Mike replied. Drawing his pistol and sword, the teen jumped over the rock wall, charging at the massive monster, screaming out all of his anger and frustrations in a loud battlecry. He didn't notice that Issac was doing the same thing right next to him, unwilling to let the man he saw as a brother charge headlong into an unwinable fight by himself.

* * *

A/N: I was planning on making this one a little longer, but I'm going to be having trouble accessing this site for a while and It has been nearly two months since I last updated.

Anyway, I noticed something that makes me feel a little... unappreciated. My new Beta, a clase friend at school who will will start helping me out once I've finished the Destiny Islands arc, recently uploaded her first fic, and it got it's first review in less than twenty-four hours. Whereas this thing has been up since, I think it was late December, and I've heard absolutely no feedback.

I do plan on finishing this story no matter what happens or how popular it is in the end, but it certainly gives me a big boost to my confidence as a writer whenever somebody tells me what they think of my work. I ask that you take two minutes or something out of your day and let me know whatI'm doing that you do or don't like.

Thank you very much

-Fanoren


	9. setting the stage

(One hour into the attack on Destiny Islands)

On the second floor of a building just across the street from the town hall, Wakka held a pair of binoculars to his face. To his right stood another militiaman looking out another window. He was a boy around the age of fourteen named Yukiteru, but people just called him Yuki.

"How many of these things do you see?" Wakka asked. "I count about twenty of them."

"Only twenty? I thought there would be more of them." Yuki replied.

"Yeah, I thought so too, but these things are really good at hiding in the shadows. I wouldn't be surprised if there were actually two hundred of them surrounding the place."

"Two hundred… our group is less than half that number."

"Good thing we got a pair of aces up our sleeves. And let's not forget that while we're here, everyone else is rounding up other survivors." Suddenly, a familiar feeling crept over Wakka. It felt as though all the warmth in the air was being sucked away, leaving bone-chilling cold in its place. Looking over to Yuki, he saw that he felt it too.

They spun around, weapons in hand and ready to fire as a Mandrake emerged from the shadows behind them. The two militiamen opened fire, and turned the monster of an alien into a bleeding, gore spattered corpse. Glancing outside, they realized that the sound of gunfire had caught the attention of a few of the mandrakes surrounding the town hall. And they were moving towards them.

"Not good." Wakka muttered. "We gotta get out of here, now!" The duo burst out of the room, down the stairs and out the building's back door. The main streets were now infested with Mandrakes, but only a few of them patrolled the back roads that the teens used more often anyway. As they ran for their lives, they passed by the houses of friends and neighbors that they had seen be brutally murdered by these aliens. At this point, more than half of the Militia had either been killed or captured. Only the lucky, talented, and quick thinkers were left to continue the fight. And even then, their numbers were dropping rapidly by the minute.

Eventually, the two soldiers made their way to a house down on the beach. This building had become the militia's HQ after the attack began, and it was crowded with wounded, guards, and militiamen making their reports to their new leader: Riku.

"How many people did you see?" He asked one soldier as Wakka and Yuki entered.

"Less than ten, sir. I doubt many of them are still alive though. They were cornered by Mandrakes, and it looked like they had run out of ammo."

"Then I wouldn't suggest sending a team to rescue them." Said Naoki. The girl was leaning against a wall, cleaning her weapons. She knew Riku would send a rescue party if she didn't convince him otherwise, and all sending that group would do was add to the body count. Something she and the silver-haired teen had agreed they didn't want.

"The decision is up to Riku, not you." The soldier growled. "I'll lead the rescue team myself." He told his new commander. "My son is with those trapped down there, I have to get him out."

"If your son is with them, then I wouldn't let you go even if I was sending them a rescue." Riku calmly told him. "Your emotions would get the better of you, and get your team killed, even if it wasn't a suicide mission. I'm not going to allow more people to throw away their lives."

The man trembled with anger, and reached for his gun. With a quick summoning of the Way to Dawn, Riku had put his blade between the man and his weapon. "I'm told that these things kill in horrifyingly painful ways. If you want, I'll spare you that." The teen reached for a pistol Issac had given him two days ago. The man scowled and stormed out of the room. Riku sighed. "Leading is harder than I thought." He then noticed the two soldiers waiting for him. "Wakka, Yuki, what did you find at the town hall?"

"We counted twenty or so Mandrakes surrounding it. But knowing them, there has to be at least a hundred of them." Yuki reported, sweat from his dash still dripping on his face.

"How many of our own are in there?" He asked.

"We didn't see many, but we counted ten or fifteen firing at the Mandrakes. There are probably more trapped inside." Riku glanced at Naoki. She nodded.

"I'll lead a team to get them out. Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone."

"Keep in touch with the comm. If you find Sora or Kairi, let me know."

"Got it. Wakka, Yuki, with me." She ordered as she strode out of the room, leaving Riku alone in the room. He cast his gaze over a map of the town hanging on the wall. Nearly half of it was colored with red pen to show it had been lost to the enemy. Well over a third was orange, to show where most of the fighting was. Precious little of the map was let uncolored.

Riku's home was deep in Red territory. Half an hour ago, he'd learned that he was now an orphan. Sora and Kairi were nowhere to be found, they'd heard no word from Mike or Issac, but the explosion from one of the alien craft a minute ago was almost certainly their doing. He wondered what they would think if they learned that their home was hit by one of those missiles the thing had launched before it died. Nothing remained of the place but smoking ruins. Two of those missiles flew into a mob of Mandrakes, much to everyone's delight, but the last one had hit a team of twenty militia. The explosion had decapitated them somehow, but it didn't change the fact that twenty people died. He was thankful that only one missile hit them, but he knew that they were losing, and those twenty lives meant the islands would fall that much sooner.

"There has to be some way we can win this." He assured himself. "I'll find it."

* * *

Mike slammed his back into a tree, the rough bark digging into his skin, but he didn't notice. All of his senses were focused on the floating monstrosity slowly moving towards him.

Knowing that they stood no chance fighting on the beach, the two Renegades had fallen back into the forest that surrounded said beach. They had hoped that the trees might make it harder for the Pain engine to move. They should have remembered what their luck was like. Every tree the thing encountered was torn to kindling by it's scythe-hand.

Off to his right, Mike saw Issac readying an RPG. Where the veteran soldier got his hands on it, Mike had no idea or care. He jumped out from cover for a few seconds to fire off some rounds into the massive thing to no affect. He jumped back to the tree in time for a stream of splinter crystals to tear a chunk out of it.

"Any time now, Issac!" He called. He tossed his pistol into the dirt in frustration. He was out of ammo.

"Eat this, fucker!" Issac roared as he lifted the launcher onto his broad shoulders and fired. The Anti-Armor missile slammed into the face of the Pain Engine. A cloud of smoke and dust was thrown up from the explosion, concealing the monster for a split second. The cousins used that second to get to better cover. "That had to kill it, right?" Issac asked.

"I don't think so. These things are infamous for being able to survive getting hit by Dark Lances." Almost like it wanted to prove his point, the Talos Engine floated out from the smoke. Not a single scratch marred its ugly hide or armor. Its twin splinter cannons opened fire on them again.

"What is that thing made out of!?" Issac screamed.

"Captives!" Mike answered bitterly. His mind was swimming with what Hex remembered hearing about these things. They were very few, the Succubus had never seen one in all her four centuries. Supposedly, they were able to butcher entire squads of Space Marines, the greatest foes they had ever faced. And he remembered from Hex's memories just how hard it was to kill one.

Issac fired off the last few bullets he had left and tossed the gun away.

"Nine hundred rounds! I shot that fucking thing Nine hundred times! Why won't it die!" Unlike its human prey, the Pain Engine showed no sign of running out of ammo. It kept Issac under a constant barrage of crystals while it closed in for the kill. The tree he was hiding behind was slowly being chipped away by the countless toxic crystals that struck it.

"**Please explain to me how you plan to win this."** Mike heard Beast's growling voice in his head. **"You are armed with only knives and swords, but you still try to kill this hulking behemoth without my help?"**

"_Shut up, I don't need your help to win this."_ Mike snapped back.

"**Yes, you do. You can deny it as much as you want, but don't forget that the longer you delay, the greater the chance that those children and your two remaining friends will die."**

"_I don't need your goddamn help!"_

"**Yes, you do and you know it. Remember, I can hear your thoughts just as easily as you can read anybody else's."** The leader of the Renegades grit his teeth. His eyes glowing a bright red. He'd sworn a vow on the names of his ancestors he'd never allow that thing to take over his body again without a fight. In his family, breaking that kind of vow was unthinkable, but what good was his honor if they were all dead?

"_Fine. Kill this monster, but if you so much as touch anyone else I'll throw us both off a cliff." _A dark, evil chuckle echoed in the back of his mind. "_But_ _just give me a moment."_

"Issac!" He called. The soldier looked at him.

"What now?!" He shouted frantically. "What's the plan?!"

"Get back to the town! Once Hespol gets there, things are going to get even worse! Find the others and get started with the real plan!"

"What about you?!" He shouted back. a splinter crystal richoceted off the tree right next to his ear.

"May the spirits of our heroes see fit to reunite us. In this life, or the next." Mike said. It was a way of saying a possibly final good-bye passed down through their family for well over a thousand years. Issac's face was horror struck.

"You can't be thinking..."

"_Do it."_

"**Very well." **This time, Mike heard the voice leave his mouth. He wished that he could black out whenever this thing took over, but he was forced to watch as the air around him turned blue and bolts of electricity danced around him. Forced to watch as Issac looked at him, his cousin's dark brown eyes filled with horror at what he had done.

"_I'm sorry Issac."_ He said in his mind, the only part of his body he could control now.

"**Hahaha!" **The guttural laughter of his inner demon roared, echoing through the forest. The mindless Pain Engine continued to smash down trees in a chemically enduced frenzy as it closed with the pair. Utterly oblivious to the demonic feeling in the air that would have sent any thinking creature running in panic.

With one last look at his cousin, Issac turned and ran. A tide of flying purple crystals flew at him from the Pain engine's tail. The now black eyed Mike lazily raised his arm and it was as if an invisible wall rose up to meet the tide, for every last crystal froze in place before they could hit their target, and then dropped to the ground.

"**Damn, I swear that you're uglier than you were a minute ago." **The beast said with a cruel smile on his lips. **"Then again, I didn't have eyes a minute ago."**

"_I didn't give you permission to have a sense of humor."_ Mike said bitterly.

"**I don't need your permission." **He yawned as the Pain Engine floated close enough for it to use its scythe and claw. It's muscles randomly twitched as green chemicles flooded it's meaty body.

"Rrrrrraaaaaaghhhhhhhh!" It roared and reached for the Alpha Prototype with it's clawed metallic hand. The beast dodged by jumping onto it's back just above the neck. The twin splinter cannons opened fire. They were so close to their target that even in this darkness, Beast could stare down the barrels, if he wasn't looking down at the head of the raging monster. The crystals all stopped harmlessly in mid-air and fell to the ground as more poured out to replace them.

Beast quietly drew Mike's sword. A burst of blue electricity jumped out of his hand and into the blade, giving it a bright blue glow.

"**Let's try an old favorite of yours shall we, Mike?" **He laughed, and stabbed the monster in the back. **"Army of one!"**

"_Son of a bitch! That's my move!" _A pissed off Mike whined inside their head.

Meanwhile, inside the head of the pain engine, the electricity from the blade traveled along the hulking creature's nervous system and into the brain. Once there, the controlled electricity took over the brain of the massive creature. It could have ended the fight right then and there, but this was Mike's favored "Army of one" attack. Rather than fry the brain or manipulate it for his own purposes, the beast manipulated the creature's senses, and created a powerful illusion. Standing before the creature now, was well over a hundred illusionary warriors, all of them looked exactly like Mike.

Despite what many might believe, illusions on this scale are dangerous. If the brain is thoroughly convinced an illusionary attack is real, it will physically wound the body as if it was real even if the person realizes it's an illusion. So, imagine one hundred warriors that do not exist, and therefore cannot be touched, but each wound they inflict will be real. That is Mike's "Army of one".

Beast's cackling laughter rang in the Engine's ears as the illusionary warriors tore deep into its chest, ignoring the monster's flailing. Sickly green chemicals bled from it's wounds.

Beast stood on the Pain Engine's armored back, watching with amusement as his mount tried to attack the illusions plaguing it for a few minutes. Eventually, the Pain Engine's wounds became so numerous that it simply bled to death. The green toxins that passed for its blood sizzled on the ground, slowly eating away at the dirt.

"**What's that phrase you are so fond of again?" **Beast taunted his host. **"If it has an anatomy, I can kill it?"**

"_Just give me back my body."_ Mike growled. _"You did your job, now go back to sleep or whatever it is you do when you're dormant."_

"**Fine." **Mike fell to his knees, suddenly back in control of his body. **"Give me a good show, boy."**

"Fuck you!" Mike exclaimed. His "roommate" stayed silent. Standing back up, Mike's mind refocused on two things: Completing his mission, and brutally murdering Hespol.

* * *

A loud ringing sound echoed throughout the halls of the Destiny Island's town hall as Kairi's keyblade clashed with the cursed blade of the Decapitator. From outside the room, she could hear the shouting of the soldiers and the crack of gunfire. The black face of the Mandrake hissed in her face, the green fire that were his eyes glowing with hatred and a taste of the victory he had desired for the past ten millennia.

"Aero!" She shouted, and a blast of wind shot from her weapon, throwing her four-armed foe across the room. The Mandrake spun in the air, but landed on his feet with a hiss of irritation. He gripped his sword with two of his hands, and two balls of cold energy formed in the other two.

Kairi felt her two-handed grip on her keyblade tighten and forced her muscles to relax. Her deep blue eyes were full of fear, yet they were unblinking, to blink was to die when you fought Mandrakes. To her left was her father, who must have absorbed Hex's knife-fighting skills along with her memories. Everything about his stance now reminded her of the Succubus. Under his breath, he was muttering curses in a foul language that she didn't understand, but their foe obviously did. She could have sworn the Mandrake flinched in surprise when the Mayor opened his mouth.

Unfortunately, he hadn't inherited the assassin's reflexes and agility. All of his attacks looked like what could have been an intricate dance of death, but they were too slow to actually land a blow. Every time the Mandrake attacked him, he would attempt to jump, roll, spin, or some other kind of acrobatic trick to get out of the way, but because he was so slow he was only alive due to insanely good luck.

The decapitator moved, and Kairi was barely able to bring up her own weapon to block the sudden stroke that would have severed her head. The horrifying smile of green flame on the Mandrake's face made her realize that he still had two free hands to kill her with. He raised both those hands to her face and was about to fire the firey green orbs into her face. Just before he launched them however, he let out an agonized screech and staggered back a few feet. You would too if you suddenly had a knife in your neck. The mandrake turned to the mayor, who had buried his knife up to the hilt into the alien monster's neck, and unleashed one of the blasts at the man's gut. The mayor managed to block it with his arm, which turned black as the blood froze solid, but he was still alive.

Capitalizing on the Decapitator's distracted state, Kairi thrust her weapon into her foe's chest, right where his heart should have been. Black blood dripped from the wound, and the Green fire of the Mandrake's eyes were wide in shock. Surprisingly, the wound wasn't instantly fatal. The Decapitator shoved the teenager to the ground, she lost her grip on the Keyblade, which vanished and reappeared back in her hands. Now there was a river of blood flowing forth from the hole in the Decapitator's chest. He staggered back to a shadowy corner of the room, Kairi and her father cornering him in there. With one last hateful glare at the two humans, the Mandrake vanished into the shadows. The oppressively cold air that signaled a nearby Mandrake vanished with him. He was gone.

Outside, the coordinated Mandrake assault on the building suddenly stopped in its tracks. The oily black creatures looked around in confusion, making themselves easy targets for Naoki's team of militia, who opened fire and sent the invaders running in panic. This was happening all over the island. The Mandrake assault suddenly fell apart with the defeat of its leader, and the suddenly winning islanders quickly won back block after block after block of the town. Those that were not killed managed to escape into the shadows, and eventually made their way back to the Dark city Commoragh.

A sudden powerful wind picked up, plucking every last Mandrake in the town square, sending them flying towards a tornado that had appeared out of nowhere. As they were tumbling inside the fierce winds, a number of Mandrakes and observing humans noticed that a teenage boy with spikey brown hair, sea-blue eyes, and wielding a large key shaped weapon stood near the base of the tornado. Lying on the ground around him were the torn, bloody remains of Islanders that had died in the assault. His eyes burned with anger and the desperate need for revenge. He held the tip of his weapon to the base of the tornado.

"Fire."

The tip of his weapon exploded in flames, and the wind storm caught fire. With a roar that matched Simba's, the tornado went up in flames. The aliens caught inside were burned alive within seconds.

Most of the town could see this display of power. Many of them thought that it was a Mandrake weapon. Some knew that it was actually Sora, and took this as a sign of victory. But either way, no one knew the true carnage to come.

* * *

A/N: Whoooo! I finally got another chapter done! This is where I was hoping to end the last one actually. Oh well.

So, the next chapter will be the last in the Destiny Islands, and the Renegades will be taking a break for a couple worlds after that.

In the next chapter, we find out what the real plan is, and get to see the last few powers the Renegades have left up their sleeves. Issac blows more shit up. The Keyblade trio reunites and tries to find a way to save their world. Mike duels Hespol. And a few issues get resolved. And finally, the battle for the Islands will end one way or another. Expect people to die.

Anyway, there's something I'd like to say. None of the Renegades will be getting new abilities as this story progresses. If you think they are a little OP now, you should see what I've got planned for the Keyblade wielders later on. If you like Sora's new firestorm ability, you are going to love what else I got planned.

Also, I'm trying to think up a new title and summary for the story, but it's not working out so well. If you have any ideas let me know please. See ya later!


	10. The end of the battle

Naoki stood stupefied by the tornado of fire that she had just witnessed, and she wasn't the only one. Every person in her squad and inside the town hall could only just gape at the teenager who had single-handedly killed as many as one hundred Mandrakes.

"Is that… really Sora?" Wakka wondered aloud next to her. Of cource it had to be him! Nobody else could wield the Kingdom Key, but the look in the boy's eyes, they were different, more hard, mature, like he had aged a couple years mentally.

"_What could he have gone through that could have changed him so much? Was it seeing the dead?" _She thought. A buzzing over her comm snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Hello? Naoki! I saw that flash from here. What the hell just happened?" Riku demanded, his voice crackling over the comm. Maybe the enemy was trying to run interference? That wasn't a good sign.

"Naoki here, Riku, I found Sora."

"He was behind that fiery tornado, wasn't he?"

"How'd you know?"

"Lucky guess. Now we just need to find Kairi and figure out what our next move is."

"I'll get to work on it. What's the situation with the rest of the town?"

"I'm receiving reports that the Mandrakes are in full retreat. Something happened, something big."

"Got it." She switched off her comm. Taking a deep breath before addressing her soldiers. "C'mon you lazy bastards! Secure the area, the enemy might be regrouping for another attack!" That got them going again. Only when her men were sweeping the area for any sign of lingering Mandrakes did she let her mind wander to her fellow Renegades. "Kami, please let them be alright."

* * *

Issac ran through the woods, his ragged, sore body fueled entirely by adrenaline.

"There he is!" shouted a sinister, chilling voice.

"Kill him!" Screamed another voice that sounded just as evil. A few splinter crystals flew just over his head.

"Fuck!" He muttered under his breath. Not long after he and Mike separated, Issac accidently ran into a group of Kaballite warriors. They were obviously out to kill anyone that tried to flee into the forest, but it was just his luck that he'd run into them. Risking a glance back at his pursuers, Issac realized that only four warriors had bothered to follow him. If he wasn't so damn happy about that, he'd have felt insulted. Only four?

Even though they had the impossible speed of the Dark Eldar, Issac knew he could take them on in his sleep. He threw himself behind a tree just in time to avoid taking a crystal to the neck and answered they're shots with a short burst of fire that tore off the face of one of the aliens. Issac smiled with satisfaction as the alien dropped to the ground. It vanished when the survivors began darting from cover to cover. Their unnatural speed making them little more than a blur between trees.

"_Looks like this is going to be a little tougher than I thought."_ he smiled at the idea. _"Just as I like it."_ He snatched one of the many spheres at his belt. _"Let's see if this works."_ He waited for one of his enemies to make a dash for another tree and chucked the ball, covering his ears and looking away at the last second. There was a blinding flash, and despite having plugged his ears, they were ringing. Quickly looking back at the Eldar he threw the flash-bang at, he saw that the alien was rolling on the ground, probably screaming, but he couldn't tell with his ears in their current condition. A quick three round burst from his rifle made sure the alien would never get back up.

Before Issac even lowered the rifle his messed up hearing had returned enough for him to hear that someone was yelling behind him. He spun around and silenced the third with a well placed shot between the eyes before he could plant a bayonet in Issac's back. The last alien was either smarter than his fellows or had learned from their mistakes. No matter where the Human soldier looked, he couldn't see his target, but he could feel the monster's eyes on him, wondering how he was going to kill this particular foe. It wasn't a panicked "Oh my God, how am I going to kill this guy?" It was more confident than that. More likely, the alien was wondering "Which of my many weapons am I going to use this time?"

Minutes passed in deathly silence. Each second feeling like a decade to the two hardened warriors. Both knowing that one of them would be dead soon. A light "Thud!" at Issac's feet caught his attention. A small ball with holes in it had landed by his feet. A strange purple gas leaked out of the holes.

"Shit!" Issac shouted, jumping back and grabbing a gas mask he had hidden away on his old military uniform for such an occasion. He fitted the mask to his face, once he had it on he noticed the last kabbalite warrior emerge from behind a tree maybe ten feet from him. On the warrior's back were a pair of tubes that connected to the back of his waist and ended over his shoulder. Probably grenade launchers. Issac greeted the foe with a spray of bullets, but this alien's armor was stronger than that of the lesser warriors, and every last bullet just bounced harmlessly off the midnight black armor. "Oh, not good!"

The Dark Eldar warrior drew a menacingly curved sword. As soon as the weapon was free from its sheath, it was enveloped by dancing bolts of lightning. The alien's bloodlust was clearly visible behind the blood red visors of its helmet. Issac's hand dove for his knife, and missed it. His entire body was trembling and going numb. _"What?"_ Issac wondered. _"It must have been that gas, but how? I have my gas mask on!"_

"Wondering why your body is shutting down?" The Dark Eldar asked. Issac could tell he was smirking just from his voice. The Eldar removed his helmet, revealing a very thin, very pale, but extremely handsome face. Yep, the bastard was smirking. "That gas bomb contains a neurotoxin that would paralyse you long enough for us to drag you back to Commoragh, but I'm just going to kill you here. Your body absorbs it through the skin, so your primitive mask wouldn't have been able to help."

Issac wasn't listening, he was trying to get his body to listen to him again. The alien had removed his helmet, if only he could get off a single shot…

"Now, you must be thinking, why did I remove my helmet?" The Eldar casually walked up to Issac, his sword in hand. Issac felt his legs finally give out, and he tumbled to the ground, only to be caught by the alien, and held up by his hair. The pale Eldar held his glowing blade at Issac's throat. "The reason is that I like feeling my vicitm's blood splatter on my face when I kill them." Steel dragged against flesh, and blood poured forth from the slit throat, spraying the face of the killer.

"You were a very sick fuck." Issac told the Eldar. The Alien gurgled blood, and clawed at the hole Issac's knife had left in his throat. "Now you're wondering how I managed to overcome the poison." Issac mocked. "I didn't. I just have an incredible amount of willpower." With that, the Dark Eldar died, and Issac struggled to get to his feet using all of that willpower he could muster. "Ugh, why did they have to hide out so deep in the woods?" He groaned.

* * *

Sora couldn't take his eyes away from the dead at his feet. The living were all around him, thanking him for destroying the mandrakes or asking about where he got his keyblade or how he summoned the firestorm. He never answered them, his eyes glued to the motionless bodies of people he'd known all his life.

And then someone punched him in the face, knocking him on his ass.

"Ow!" The boy cried. "What was that for?!"

"See? What'd I tell ya," The perpetrator, Naoki, said to a confused looking Kairi. "Nine times out of ten, a punch in the face snaps a guy out of his depressed trance." Some of the nearby militia chuckled at the scene before them. Kairi was rapidly looking back and forth between Naoki and Sora, wondering what to do. She quickly darted past Naoki to tend to Sora.

"Thank God your okay!" She said. Hugging him. The sudden physical contact surprised Sora. Slowly, he wrapped his own arms around the redhead. Her presence reminded him of something. The dead terrified him with their blank, lifeless gaze. But he wasn't fighting this war for the dead. He was fighting it for the living, and the chance at a happy life once the fighting was over.

"I'm glad you're okay too." He told her.

Naoki watched the happy pair with a smile on her face. Battle was a cruel place, but moments like this made one forget all the horrors that surrounded them. Sadly, those horrors made themselves known to her genetically enhanced ears. The screams of powerful engines and howling laughter roared in her ears.

"We've got incoming hostiles from the south!" She yelled to the survivors in the main city plaza. Many of them looked at her with looks of pure horror on their faces. They had barely survived the initial Mandrake invasion, the idea of another attack literally scared the shit out of some of them. "What the fuck are you idiots looking at?! Get to cover!" The men and women of her platoon scrambled over one another in a mad rush to put anything solid between them and their new enemies.

The two teenage keyblade wielders were shocked. They had barely reunited and now they might be torn apart again?

Kairi's head was filled with things people had been telling her since the war started.

"_Even those people that are most precious to you can still be taken from you at any time. So be sure to tell them what you need to, because you may never get the chance again."_

"_My advice is to just come right out and tell him."_

"_I know that you probably want to do some things before you die. Most likely, we're all going to die horribly before the end of the month. If you'll regret not doing something when you die, go do it."_

The next thing she knew, she was kissing Sora. Both teens were overcome with shock when Naoki ran over to them and tore them apart.

"What the fuck are you two idiots doing! Get to cover!" She threw them in the direction of a wall. A terrified looking Selphie joined them. And then the sounds of screaming engines and mad laughter reached their ears.

As terrifying as the noises were, Selphie looked past the wall to get a good look at what was making those horrible noises. Only to earn a hook atatched to a chain in her eye. The craft that the chain was attached to screamed into sight. To Sora, it looked something like a small flying black pirate ship covered in menacing chains, spikes, skulls, and crawling with armored aliens screeching for his blood. A Dark Eldar Raider. A screaming Selphie was dragged away by the hook in her eye as the Raider flew past. It was the first of many. A pair of Raiders sped into the center of the town square and stopped abruptly. The passengers pouring splinter crystals into the terrified defenders as the main cannons on the Raiders bows opened fire, bolts of black fire incinerating those unfortunate enough to be hit.

Within moments, half the Humans in the square were dead or dying in agony. They were the lucky ones. They didn't have to live through this nightmare of screams, pain, blood and death any longer.

Sora pointed the tip of his keyblade between the two Raiders.

"Gravity!" He shouted. A black sphere formed between the two alien crafts and sucked them in. The ships exploded when they collided with one another, killing all on board.

Now that he had a little time to catch his breath, Sora finally noticed the screaming. The Dark Eldar never killed painlessly. Every kill was drawn out and painful. Next to him lay a young boy, no older than twelve. He'd taken a few splinter rounds to his leg, and he screamed and screamed as the deadly cocktail of poisons did their work.

BANG!

The booming sound of a gunshot right next to him left Sora's ears ringing. Kairi was at his side with a smoking pistol in her hand tears streaming down her face. The boy wasn't screaming anymore.

"I had to make him stop screaming." She cried. "I just… I…" There were another two gunshots that went off. Naoki was doing the same thing Kairi had just done. But unlike the redheaded keyblade master, Naoki wasn't crying. She didn't even flinch when she pulled the trigger, painting the ground with blood and bits of brain. She didn't show any emotion in those cold, blue, glowing eyes.

"More of them are on the way." She stated simply to her terrified militia troopers. "We can't hold this location. We're falling back to the forest! Double time it! Fall behind and you die!" She and her soldiers took off running. Sora joined them for a second before he realized that somebody wasn't following. He looked back at Kairi.

"My dad…" Kairi whispered, quickly glancing at the city hall. "He didn't want to come out of there." She looked back at Sora. "We need to get him out of there!" Sora was about to rush into the building to rescue the mayor, but then he heard the gleeful cheery laughter of Dark Eldar on the wind. He ran back, grabbed the emotionally scarred girl.

"We need to move. NOW."

"But, my dad."

"We'll come back for him." He promised. Though he wasn't sure whether they'd be coming back to find a mutilated corpse or something even worse. "He'll be alright. But we need to go with them or we are both going to die." Kairi looked back at the town hall for a second before nodding in agreement. They raced after the fleeing soldiers.

At this point, it became apparent to eveyone that they could not hold the city any longer. The battle had been lost, but Sora and Kairi still held on to the hope that their world was not.

* * *

Riku's comm came to life with reports of a strange new enemy that had appeared out of nowhere and had cut down most of the already dwindling millitia. But the unofficial leader of the Human resistance was not around to hear them. He had seen Hespol's armada moving in for the kill, and knew that the battle was lost. He issued one last order to those he could: Retreat to the forest.

He knew from Mike's lectures that the Dark Eldar relied heavily on speed. Take that away from them and the islanders might just stand a chance. The woods were too densely packed for the Dark Eldar ships to follow, so any pursuers would have to march in on foot, where the aliens were at their weakest. The problem was getting to the woods without getting killed. And sadly, many of the Militia had been cut off from communications when Riku had given the order. They had no choice but to leave them behind.

Riku and his five remaining guards ran down the street as fast as their legs could carry them.

"C'mon! Move!" Riku shouted to them. Risking a glance behind them, the Silverette saw a pair of Eldar jetbikes with blades emerging from the back. Dark Eldar Reavers. They had to be almost a quarter of a mile away when he saw them, but they closed the distance with such god-like speed that Riku didn't even have time to warn his men. The five militiamen died in the same instant, beheaded by spinning Reaver blades. Riku's combat reflexes were all that saved him. But even then, a Reaver blade took his nose clean off.

Riku clutched at his bleeding face. In front of him, the reavers spun around for a second pass, determined to finish off their prey. The Way to Dawn flashed in Riku's hand, and a wave of blue fire washed over the screetching aliens. They died screaming as their bodies and bikes burned to ash in Riku's magic.

"So this is what war is like." The teen said. His mind flashing back to the first day of his training with Naoki.

They met out in the woods that night. The girl had all kinds of weapons strapped to her body.

"There are two kinds of heroes kid." She told him. "And don't think you aren't a hero. You just haven't decided what kind of hero you are yet."

"Oh really?" Riku had replied. "And what are these two types of heroes?"

"There are heroes like Sora, Kairi, King Mickey, Mike, and even Issac. They fight for glory. People rally behind them, are inspired by them. These are the kinds of heroes who lead the charge into battle. People will follow them to hell and back if they ask it. Then there are heroes like me." She unsheathed a machete and held it out to her new pupil.

"I fight for victory. I am the kind of hero whose deeds are best kept to the shadows. I don't inspire people. I don't lead the charge. I'm the kind of hero you send to get something done no matter what the cost. The biggest difference between us is that While the 'glory' heroes can turn the tide of a battle, we 'victory' heroes can turn the tide of a war with a single stroke." With the speed and grace of a cat, the young woman swung her blade at Riku, who blocked it with a hastily summoned Way to Dawn.

"Mike sent you to me because he sensed the potential for you to become a 'victory' hero. In the end, the choice is up to you though. Do you want glory? Or victory?"

Riku glared at the blackened remains of the alien monsters that murdered his men. "This is going to be a long war." He sighed.

* * *

Issac stumbled his way through the dark woods as his body was only just now starting to come back online after getting hit by that gas. His hopes were high, after all, a very familiar shape was coming into view. He could already see the silhouettes.

"Hey!" He called out. The adrenaline that had been pushing onward him for so long began to fade, and all the soreness and pain his body was going through finally registered to the soldier. He collapsed. But he heard running footsteps as he planted his face into the ground.

"Holy- Issac!" A familiar voice yelled. Soon, two people stood over him. The two people Issac had been trying to get to for so long. He summoned all his remaining strength and willpower.

"Mike's staying behind! He's ordered for the real plan to start! I don't care if you are ready to move out or not, just do it!" The last thing he saw before the pain overwhelmed him and everything went black were Frank and Martin standing over him.

* * *

Mike almost literally flew from tree to tree he was in such a rush. One of the benefits of being able to modify his body's nervous system to make his motor functions almost twice as fast as normal. This allowed him to keep up with the impossible speed of the Dark Eldar as well. How else could he have been able to go toe to toe with Hex?

But this wasn't Hex he was tracking down. He knew everything about Hespol that Hex knew. He knew how brutal, cunning, cruel, and all kinds of terrifying the Eldar could be. But, if Hespol died, the Dark Eldar link to worlds beyond their own would be severed. Never again would another world of light be their target. But that was just an added bonus to the leader of the Renegades.

Hespol would die by his hand for ordering the attack that claimed Christi's life. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw his lost friend the day he met her. The day they went through their first life-or-death struggle together, the day he lost his uncle. That was one very busy day. But his most vivid memory of that day was when he held the crying young woman in his arms and made a vow on his father's grave that he wouldn't let her die. He'd protect her until the day they were finally able to start picking up the pieces of their old lives.

Hex, and by extention, Hespol and the other generals of darkness, had made him watch as one of his closest friends died horribly and forced him to break that vow. He could never forgive either act.

By now, Issac should have made it to Frank and Martin. Hopefully they'd be able to find the kids and complete the mission. But that didn't matter to him anymore. Whether the plan worked or not, Mike knew he wasn't going to survive. He'd spent years cheating death, looked it straight in the eye and said "Not today" with every sip of his morning coffee, but now, staring death in the face one last time, he didn't fear it. He almost welcomed it like an old friend.

"Up there! In the trees!" Yelled a Dark Eldar warrior below him. A squad of ten Kabalite warriors opened fire on the Alpha Prototype. The poisonous crystals ripping into the bark of the trees he jumped from.

"Well, I guess I could do with a warm up." The killer decided, and leapt down to the ground. Landing on top of an alien, and using his sword to slice it's throat open. "You all die here!" He screamed. His crimson eyes glowing bright red. Just because he welcomed death didn't mean he was going down without a fight.

Inside his mind, the Beast grinned as it waited for it's chance, watching with the patient eyes of a predator as his host killed the aliens and continued his chase after Hespol.

* * *

Martin and Frank grunted as they both lugged Issac onto the recently repaired _Valkyria_. Turns out that Hannah had brought along a lot of spare parts in case she came across them in a broken down gummi ship. She left the parts behind when she left so the two pilots could fix their ship and fly everyone to Disney Castle after training.

"How much does this guy weigh?" Frank complained as they managed to carry the soldier into the medbay.

"C'mon, we just gotta get the guy onto one of the beds and we can go back to getting the ship ready."

"You sure about this? There will be a lot of people who die because of this, and the kids probably won't like it either."

"That's a given, otherwise Mike would have told them about it and not gone on about how they had to defend the city."

"They'll never forgive him when they find out it was just to distract the enemy while we set things up."

"Yeah…" They lifted Issac up and laid him on one of the many sickbay beds.

"So…" Frank wondered. "You think they are gonna do something stupid when they learn that the plan is to just leave this world to the Dark Eldar?"

"I thought that was a given."

"Thought so too."

* * *

Mike looked down at his watch. It was a nice watch. It wasn't very fancy or expensive, didn't do anything other than tell time. But this watch was his most treasured possesion. It was given to him by his father on his thirteenth birthday. Back then, he was actually a little upset that he didn't get the new video game he'd asked for, but not even an hour later, His dad was dead. He learned sometime after that the watch had belonged to an uncle of his that was labeled KIA during the Vietnam war. He felt touched that the last gift his father gave him was something he'd been holding onto for more than fourty years.

When it all happened three years ago, and he founded the Renegades, he had been forced to leave everything behind. The family heirlooms and records dating back two thousand years, but he couldn't bring himself to leave this one thing. It was what reminded him of his own personal losses, and what waited for him once the war was over. Now that war was over, but he'd been dragged into an entirely different one. The last shards of his old life were gone, maybe forever, all he had left was this watch.

He took it off, and threw it into the ocean. He was a dead man now. The Renegades were all he had left, and if his plan went well, Issac and Naoki should be leaving any minute now with the last few survivors of the Islands. They were safe, he could die happily here.

In the distance, he could see the burning remains of the city he'd sacrificed. Two hours had passed since the invasion had begun, yet it felt as if he'd been planning for this fight a lifetime ago. He knew a bit about Hespol's battle plans thanks to Hex's memories. The two had gone over the plans before Hex had left. Once the city had fallen, Hespol would want to personally secure the webway portal he'd used to summon the Talos Pain Engine. Those were priceless artifacts that were in constant demand. The Archon wasn't going to give up three thousand "Toys" to get a new one. And he didn't feel too comfortable with letting one of his minions find it. It would be too easy to assassinate him if the wrong Eldar got their hands on it.

Taking this into account, Mike found a good ambush spot between the city and the beach he'd first seen the Archon. Now all he had to do was wait for the enemy to show up.

One more time he looked at the smoke coming from the fallen city. Even from this distance, he could hear the screams of the dying being drowned out by the captives being tested out by their new masters. He didn't need to see the city to know what was there. The Dark Eldar liked to decorate the homes of their victims with the entrails of the previous inhabitants. He could just imagine the intestines being strung around the town like disgusting Christmas decorations. He didn't even want to think about what was happening to the unfortunate survivors.

Then he saw a flash of movement. Hespol's Venom had left the city and was on its way here. His time had come. Death was waiting for him. He never really liked making people wait. He grabbed his sword, and closed his eyes.

Hespol smiled under his helm. While he hadn't found the keyblade brats just yet, screams of terror and pain just always made him smile with glee. On his Venom with him were three of his four Incubi bodyguards. Somehow, one of the humans had gotten lucky and shot him in one of the few weak points in Incubus armor. Now all he had to do was have his men comb the forest until they found the brats and then he could go back home and continue with his plots against Vect and the other six generals. So far it had been a good day.

He did not expect the dark lance beam to shoot at him from behind a tree. The venom came to a complete halt to prevent itself from running straight into the beam.

"You should have tried to kill me yourself instead of having that mindless monster of yours try instead." Said a voice that Hespol recognized. A quick glance in the direction of the trees revealed Mike emerging from behind the tree the beam had come from, dropping a captured dark lance. Hespol stared at him in shock.

"How are you alive?" He demanded to know. "The Pain Engine is the strongest creation of the Haemunculi! No mere human could kill it!" In response, Mike's body came to life with blue sparks of electricity.

"Unholy left tit of Slannesh!" One of the Incubi swore.

"Good thing I'm not human." Mike said with a growl in his voice and jumped at the Venom.

"Flickerfields to the front!" Hespol screamed. A powerful forcefield formed in front of the ship. Mike just smiled and snapped his fingers.

He had hidden a metal pipe just out of view and stored some electricity in it. It connected to several metal wires that he had set up over the past week. Those connected to a very large pile of fertilizer he'd buried in the sand which the venom was now floating above. Manure is one of the key ingredients in fertilizer. And manure has one trait to it that not many people know about. It's an explosive.

So, imagine the surprise Hespol felt as this maniac leaped at his ship, and a cow pie bomb exploded just underneath them, knocking out all the primary systems of the ship just in time for Mike to get past the forcefield and drop a chunk of plastic explosives onto the ship's hull and then detonate it. The explosion destroyed the Venom, and sent it's charred wreckage plummeting to the ground with it's passengers. It landed with a loud thud and knocked everyone on it to the ground.

Then Mike landed and grabbed one of the few things that can cut through Incubi armor: an Incubi's Klaive. He smashed the giant weapon into the ribs of the warrior he stole the weapon from, slicing through bone, flesh, and armor as easily as a hot knife through butter.

A second Incubus tried to get to his feet, but Mike swung his stolen Kalaive around and cut his arms off at the elbows and slashed him in half at the stomach in the same swing.

The third and final Incubus leapt to his feet and swung it's massive sword with a grace and precision that could only come from a thousand years of using such a weapon. Mike managed to block the blow with his Klaive, but the massive sword was torn out of his hands. Before the warrior could make good on his enemy's weakness, Mike punched him. A powerful pulse of energy fired out of his elbow as he attacked, for lack of a better word, this launched his fist at the alien with all the velocity of a rocket. However, this did also shatter the bones in Mike's right arm in the process.

The impact snapped the last Incubi's neck, and he flew across the beach before landing in the ocean.

"GAAAAAAAH!" Mike screamed in pain. His now useless arm hung limply at his side. The biggest downside to using his power to make himself faster was that it also made pain much more intense. In the case of his broken arm, he almost blacked out from the agony. He reluctantly returned his nerves back to normal. The pain was still horrible, but it was something he could live with in the last few minutes he had left.

"I see." Said the sinister voice of the Archon Mike was here to kill. Mike looked up from his ruined arm in time to see Hespol slowly draw his sword. "I underestimated you. I made the mistake of thinking all humans were the same as the ones in my home galaxy. I should have known better. The brats I'm after are proof enough that beings of extraordinary powers exist, and I should be wary of them."

"I'm going to kill you." Mike growled. His voice laced heavily with malice and hate. Hespol chuckled.

"Now you are the one who underestimates your enemy." Hespol said with a grin under his helmet. "A worm like you can't hope to kill me."

"Doesn't matter if I underestimated you or not." Mike produced a knife from his pocket. An eagle carved into it's wooden handle as a way to remind it's fallen owner of her Cherokee Heritage. It was Christi's favorite knife. "This worm is going to kill you, no matter the cost."

"You really do deserve a place amongst my trophies." Hespol smiled. With a blinding flash of speed, the Alien launched his attack.

* * *

Sora and Kairi dodged through the trees of the forest as if death itself was chasing them. As far as they were concerned, it was. They were not the only Humans in the woods though. Naoki, Yuki, Wakka, and about seven other people neither of them knew were with them. The rest were either killed or got lost running through the forest in panic.

"C'mon! We're almost there!" Naoki assured the survivors. Though, where "There" was a complete mystery to everyone, it was reassuring to think that somebody had a plan. Behind them, the survivors could hear the screams of those who fell behind. Occasionally, Naoki, who was the fastest in the group, spun around and fired a few bullets at whatever was chasing them.

Sora's mind was blind with terror. The enemy was coming to kill him, and for all his power, he was powerless to stop them. He could only run as fast as he possibly could and hope that he outran them. And then suddenly, he caught a glimpse of something familiar. The _Valkyria_.

"Come on! Follow me!" He heard himself shout. The relief in his voice surprised him, and the other survivors found comfort in the fact that he seemed to have found something that might save their skins. Much to his surprise. He saw Frank, Martin, and Riku standing outside the ship. They seemed to be talking about something. Riku's bandaged and bloody face was flushed red with anger, but Sora couldn't hear what he was saying. But then Riku nodded and walked up the ramp into the ship.

Martin and Frank waved to the survivors as they got close.

"Hey, what took you so damn long?" Frank asked.

"Certainly wasn't lack of motivation." Said Naoki. "I had these guys thinking we were being chased the whole way."

"What!" Sora Reacted. "Why did you do that?!"

"Fear makes people move faster, and we are fighting a foe that specializes in lightning fast raids. Do I need to explain any more than that?"

"But… the screams…"

"Those are actually coming from the town. I'm a little surprised myself that we can still hear them."

"Anyway, can we please get on the ship before those freaks find us out here?" Martin nervously asked. Several of the survivors had already done so. They were scared about where they might be going, but anywhere was better than here right now. Most of the others quickly followed suite until only Sora, and Naoki were the only ones not on board.

"Are Issac and Mike on the ship?" Naoki asked, watching Sora lead a traumatized Kairi up the ramp. She felt sorry for the girl. Not many people would be able to deal with what she had seen. But for all their sakes, she hoped the redhead could pull through.

"Issac's in the medbay. He got hit with some kind of paralasis poison."

"And Mike?" The two pilots looked at each other. This wasn't gonna end well.

"Issac told us that Mike decided to stay behind." Oh boy, were they right. Naoki's eyes flashed with anger, her fists clenched.

"I knew that idiot was gonna do something." She muttered. "I just didn't think he'd be so stupid!" She looked up at the two pilots. "I'm gonna go drag his ass back here. Take off without us and I'll show you the reason why even Mike is terrified of me." Without waiting for them to respond, she turned around and ran off into the woods as fast as her legs could take her.

While she was running, she tore out a few strands of her own hair and tossed them into the wind. Within minutes, her run was joined by a pack of ten giant wolves. Each one as strong as their master and creator could make them.

* * *

Mike barely managed to duck before Hespol's Huskblade would have removed his head from his shoulders. As The cursed sword passed overhead, the Renegade Thrust his fallen comerade's knife into Hespol's armpit, only for the blade to shatter as it struck the alien's reinforced armor.

"Fuck." Mike cursed and jumped back. Both combatants used this opportunity to catch their breath. Neither had even been scratched by their opponent. Hespol's Ghostplate armor protected him from Mike's weapons, and Mike had to dodge every swing of Hespol's blade. He knew from Hex's memories that whatever was cut by that blade had all its moisture drained out until it crumbled to dust. This, along with Mike's broken arm, inability to get through his foe's armor, and Hespol's lightning fast Eldar speed, put the Renegade at a severe disadvantage.

Mike grunted in frustration and tossed Christi's ruined knife away, drawing his own preferred kodachi to replace it. Blue sparks of electricity sparked along the blade. He cursed his luck. The Kodachi's light weight and size made it superb when used to block an enemy attack, but if he did that, his favorite sword would shrivel away to nothing and leave him weaponless. He stood there for a good few moments wondering what his next move was going to be.

It was then that Hespol decided he was done waiting. Mike blinked, and he almost missed it. He dodged as best he could, but Hespol's blade cut into his right wrist, severing his hand. The arm it had been attatched to began to shrivel up. But Mike didn't even hesitate and cut his own limb clean off at the shoulder. Before Hespol could strike again, Mike kicked him, a powerful pulse of energy shot out of his foot, sending both fighters flying. They landed, tumbling on opposite sides of the beach. Hespol got back up almost immeadiately, but Mike lay motionless in the sand. Hespol smiled under his helm. He finally had his trophy. The Archon paused for a moment to press a button on his bracer before marching up to the wounded Renegade.

Mike's mind was swimming. He was losing a lot of blood from his missing arm, his entire body was sore and tired, yet even so, he tightened his grip, closed his eyes, and waited.

Hespol sure took his time walking up to Mike. By the time the alien was standing just over his victim, two Raiders covered with his warriors had shown up and unloaded their troops.

"You were perhaps the greatest Human I have ever fought." Hespol whispered to Mike. "But in the end, even the greatest worm is no match for me." He hovered his Huskblade over the unconscious Renegade, preparing to deliver the final blow. Suddenly, a beam of darklight shot out of the woods, directly at Hespol. The beam struck a force field that surrounded Hespol's armor. The beam couldn't get through the field and only startled the Archon.

Hespol wheeled around to see who shot at him. To his amazement, he saw only a floating Dark Lance.

"How many times do I have to say it?" Said the young, injured man beneath Hespol. Mike flipped over, in his hand was the Klaive he had 'accidentally' landed on. It was glowing blue with his electricity. All he had to do was get it to scratch the Archon's skin, and he'd kill him by shutting down every last vital organ in the monster's body. He thrust the alien blade at Hespol, intent on impaling him.

It was then that Mike's fears were realized. Just as Hespol was about to be slashed open by the Incubus' blade, he stopped his thrust. He couldn't kill Hespol. He would never be able to. For along with Hex's memories came her feelings towards those memories. The best way he could describe it would be that he had taken a piece of Hex, and that piece would never allow him to harm the target of her affections.

That destroyed him. Here stood the monster that he blamed for Christi's death, and he would never be able to avenge her. Forget his missing arm, forget the deaths of his parents, forget the entire war he had fought to get here. This was the most terrible thing he had ever experienced in his life.

Hespol recovered from his shock not a second later, and Mike's window of opportunity was gone, crushed for all eternity. The Archon slashed the Klaive with his Huskblade, turning the formidable weapon to dust.

"I underestimated you again." Hespol said, the tip of his sword at Mike's throat. "You won't live long enough to see a third time."

"No, I won't." Mike agreed. Defeat hung heavy in his voice. He closed his eyes and waited for the end. He bitterly cursed fate in his last few seconds. He died for nothing. The one death he never wanted. Hespol raised his sword, ready to end the life of his foe.

It was then that a pack of howling, snarling wolves bounded out of the forest.

The ambushed Dark Eldar soldiers opened fire in a panic at these monsterous beasts, but their splinter rifles seemed to have absolutely no effect. The beasts didn't even flinch when they took a chestful of the poisonous crystals.

One wolf Barreled over Hespol as he was about to swing his blade, knocking him to the ground. The Archon jumped back to his feet and thrust his weapon deep into the wolf's hide. It crumbled away to nothing. Behind the shriveling body stood a very pissed off Naoki. Her sea blue eyes glowing in the dark.

The last female Renegade lunged at Hespol with speed that only a dark Eldar would have been able to rival. In fact, she had mixed some of the alien DNA with her own, and that was what allowed her to move that fast.

The barbed stinger of a Giant Freshwater Stingray had grown from her palm, and that is what she stabbed into the eye of the Archon. Even though Hespol's face was protected by his helmet, the eyes are always a weak spot. Hespol fell to the ground screaming in agony and twisted pleasure as the potent venom entered his body. Naoki broke off her weapon inside Her enemy's eye and ran to Mike's side.

"You idiot!" She shouted at him, though she her voice was drowned uot by the snarling of wolves and screams of terror and pleasure of the Eldar warriors. The man barely opened his eyes. Combination of bloodloss and the dispare at his earlier realization had left him half delirious.

"Hey…" He whispered back, a strange smile on his face.

"Hey, stay awake, I'm getting you outta here." She helped him back up to his feet and half carried, half dragged him away. Nobody noticed the two Renegades as they limped away.

* * *

A/N: And here is where I officially bring an end to the Destiny Islands arc. I do have a few scenes in the next chapter that involve the aftermath of them leaving the islands for Disney castle and a few things that go on once they get there, but after that, we will move on to the next world. And as I have said numerous times, the Renegades will be taking a break.

One thing I'd like to point out, is that right now it is 7/14/13. Now, this may be nothing special to you guys, but exactly one year ago today was when the idea for this fanfic showed up in my head. I spent months brainstorming and writing before I finally published the first four chapters the first day of 2013. The rest as they say, is history.

Anyway, I this little section is for replying to my reviewers.

Wolfissac: Love the name. But anyway, yeah I know the story has a few spelling and grammar problems, but I come from a long line of bad spellers and I suck at grammar. That's the main reason I had Betas look at this thing when I first started out. And as far as your story goes, I did check it out, but surprisingly, zombie stories are not my thing. Still think it's pretty good, but I just couldn't get into it.

Ryan-Draven57: Thanks! And that is in fact a really interesting question. Will Sora be able to use his forms in this story? I haven't played KH2 in years and never really used them beyond valor form. Plus, they seemed to be pretty restricting from what I remember. Most of the new stuff Sora and the others will be able to do is actually just using their old spells in new ways and even combining them as Sora did in the last chapter. If I recall correctly, the forms didn't allow you to use magic while they were active. Since magic is his biggest edge over his foes, I don't think it would be very smart of Sora to use the forms. But then again, I'm probably wrong.

Anyway, it's so late right now that it's now 7/15/13. I'm gonna upload this and hit the hay. See ya later!

* * *

PS. Did anybody catch the Game of Thrones References?

A/N update: Okay, I've had a few hours of sleep and I wanted to point a few things out that I didn't.

1. I was fully planning on killing both Mike and Naoki in this chapter, but then I had an idea so great I laughed like a mad scientist and then rewrote the scene.

2. The Game of Thrones fanboy in me wants to use the series in this fic eventually, and I'm kinda agreeing with it. Now, it is an amazing series and I don't want to be the guy that spoils Game of Thrones for somebody. So It will be showing up very late in this story or in its sequel, and both are probably years away, and it will mostly be taking place at the begining of season 2, so I highly recomend that you guys see season 1 before reading that part. But be warned, it's very graphic. Sex, blood, they actually say it's winning a gore-off with the Walking Dead, language, it's all there.

3. I need to do a little GoT ranting here. I just recently saw the most infamous scene of season 3, and my response: "OH MY FUCKING GOD!" it started out with an adorable scene that had my favorite couple of lines in the entire show. That plastered a giant smile on my face that I thought would last the rest of the episode, but not two minutes later, that smile was gone and I had a look of absolute horror and shock on my face. I had so many emotions running through my head that I had no idea what I was feeling. And let me tell you this: I SAW ALL THIS COMING! I knew it was going to happen at some point, but I did not know when it was going to happen, nor did I see it happening in such a spectacular or bloody manner. When it was all said and done though, I could only say that I felt satisfied with it. There's just something about the show (and books) that keeps you coming back for more even after your fave character dies the most horrific death you can possibly imagine. George R.R. Martin, (The author) I applaud you as the best writer I've come across. You ever get me to like a Lannister besides Tyrion and I will hail you as a god. In conclusion, FOR THE KING IN THE NORTH!


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